Publication:
Reorganization of Substance Use Treatment and Harm Reduction Services During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Global Survey

Issued Date

2021-04-29

Resource Type

Article

ISSN

16640640

DOI

10.3389/fpsyt.2021.639393

Other identifier(s)

2-s2.0-85106509698

Rights

Mahidol University

Rights Holder(s)

SCOPUS

Bibliographic Citation

Frontiers in Psychiatry. Vol.12, (2021)

Suggested Citation

Seyed Ramin Radfar, Cornelis A.J. De Jong, Ali Farhoudian, Mohsen Ebrahimi, Parnian Rafei, Mehrnoosh Vahidi, Masud Yunesian, Christos Kouimtsidis, Shalini Arunogiri, Omid Massah, Abbas Deylamizadeh, Kathleen T. Brady, Anja Busse, Marc N. Potenza, Hamed Ekhtiari, Alexander Mario Baldacchino, Adrian Octavian Abagiu, Franck David Noel Abouna, Mohamed Hassan Ahmed, Basma Al-ansari, Feda Mahmmoud Abu Al-khair, Mandhar Humaid Almaqbali, Atul Ambekar, Hossein Mohaddes Ardabili, Sidharth Arya, Victor Olufolahan Lasebikan, Murad Ali Ayasreh, Debasish Basu, Zoubir Benmebarek, Roshan Bhad, Mario Blaise, Nicolas Bonnet, Jennifer Brasch, Barbara Broers, Jenna L. Butner, Moses Camilleri, Giovanna Campello, Giuseppe Carra, Ivan Celic, Fatemeh Chalabianloo, Abhishek Chaturvedi, José de Jesús Eduardo Noyola Cherpitel, Kelly J. Clark, Melissa Anne Cyders, Ernesto de Bernardis, John Edward Derry, Naveen Kumar Dhagudu, Pavla Dolezalova, Geert Dom, Adrian John Dunlop, Mahmoud Mamdouh Elhabiby, Hussien Elkholy, Nsidibe Francis Essien, Ghandi Ilias Farah, Marica Ferri, Georgios D. Floros, Catherine Friedman, Clara Hidalgo Fuderanan, Gilberto Gerra, Abhishek Ghosh, Maka Gogia, Ilias A. Grammatikopoulos, Paolo Grandinetti, Amira Guirguis, David Gutnisky, Paul Steven Haber, Peyman Hassani-Abharian, Zahra Hooshyari, Islam Ibrahim Mokhtar Ibrahim, Hada Fong ha Ieong, Regina Nova Indradewi, Shelly Iskandar, Shobhit Jain, Sandi James, Seyyed Mohammad hossein Javadi, Keun Ho Joe, Darius Jokubonis, Acka Tushevska Jovanova, Rama Mohamed Kamal, Alexander Ivanov Kantchelov, Preethy Kathiresan, Gary Katzman, Paul Kawale, Audrey Margaret Kern, Felix Henrique Paim Kessler, Sung Gon Sue Kim, Ann Marie Kimball, Zeljko Kljucevic, Kristiana Siste, Roneet Lev, Hae Kook Lee, Aiste Lengvenyte, Shaul Lev-ran, Geni Seseja Mabelya, Mohamed Ali El Mahi, J. Maphisa Maphisa, Icro Maremmani, Laura Masferrer, Orlagh McCambridge, Garrett Gregory McGovern Reorganization of Substance Use Treatment and Harm Reduction Services During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Global Survey. Frontiers in Psychiatry. Vol.12, (2021). doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2021.639393 Retrieved from: https://repository.li.mahidol.ac.th/handle/20.500.14594/78276

Research Projects

Organizational Units

Authors

Journal Issue

Thesis

Title

Reorganization of Substance Use Treatment and Harm Reduction Services During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Global Survey

Author(s)

Seyed Ramin Radfar
 Cornelis A.J. De Jong
 Ali Farhoudian
 Mohsen Ebrahimi
 Parnian Rafei
 Mehrnoosh Vahidi
 Masud Yunesian
 Christos Kouimtsidis
 Shalini Arunogiri
 Omid Massah
 Abbas Deylamizadeh
 Kathleen T. Brady
 Anja Busse
 Marc N. Potenza
 Hamed Ekhtiari
 Alexander Mario Baldacchino
 Adrian Octavian Abagiu
 Franck David Noel Abouna
 Mohamed Hassan Ahmed
 Basma Al-ansari
 Feda Mahmmoud Abu Al-khair
 Mandhar Humaid Almaqbali
 Atul Ambekar
 Hossein Mohaddes Ardabili
 Sidharth Arya
 Victor Olufolahan Lasebikan
 Murad Ali Ayasreh
 Debasish Basu
 Zoubir Benmebarek
 Roshan Bhad
 Mario Blaise
 Nicolas Bonnet
 Jennifer Brasch
 Barbara Broers
 Jenna L. Butner
 Moses Camilleri
 Giovanna Campello
 Giuseppe Carra
 Ivan Celic
 Fatemeh Chalabianloo
 Abhishek Chaturvedi
 José de Jesús Eduardo Noyola Cherpitel
 Kelly J. Clark
 Melissa Anne Cyders
 Ernesto de Bernardis
 John Edward Derry
 Naveen Kumar Dhagudu
 Pavla Dolezalova
 Geert Dom
 Adrian John Dunlop
 Mahmoud Mamdouh Elhabiby
 Hussien Elkholy
 Nsidibe Francis Essien
 Ghandi Ilias Farah
 Marica Ferri
 Georgios D. Floros
 Catherine Friedman
 Clara Hidalgo Fuderanan
 Gilberto Gerra
 Abhishek Ghosh
 Maka Gogia
 Ilias A. Grammatikopoulos
 Paolo Grandinetti
 Amira Guirguis
 David Gutnisky
 Paul Steven Haber
 Peyman Hassani-Abharian
 Zahra Hooshyari
 Islam Ibrahim Mokhtar Ibrahim
 Hada Fong ha Ieong
 Regina Nova Indradewi
 Shelly Iskandar
 Shobhit Jain
 Sandi James
 Seyyed Mohammad hossein Javadi
 Keun Ho Joe
 Darius Jokubonis
 Acka Tushevska Jovanova
 Rama Mohamed Kamal
 Alexander Ivanov Kantchelov
 Preethy Kathiresan
 Gary Katzman
 Paul Kawale
 Audrey Margaret Kern
 Felix Henrique Paim Kessler
 Sung Gon Sue Kim
 Ann Marie Kimball
 Zeljko Kljucevic
 Kristiana Siste
 Roneet Lev
 Hae Kook Lee
 Aiste Lengvenyte
 Shaul Lev-ran
 Geni Seseja Mabelya
 Mohamed Ali El Mahi
 J. Maphisa Maphisa
 Icro Maremmani
 Laura Masferrer
 Orlagh McCambridge
 Garrett Gregory McGovern

Other Contributor(s)

Pusan National University Yangsan Hospital
 Iranian National Center for Addiction Studies
 College of Medicine, University of Ibadan
 Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine
 School of Public Health
 School of Advanced Technologies in Medicine
 Swansea University Medical School
 Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
 Laureate Institute for Brain Research
 The University of Sydney School of Medicine
 Pandit Bhagwat Dayal Sharma University of Health Sciences
 Melaka-Manipal Medical College, Manipal University
 Národní Ústav Duševního Zdraví, Klecany
 Psychiatric Hospital Vrap?e
 United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Austria
 University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences
 Ministry of Health Oman
 Université de Yaoundé I
 Universitas Padjadjaran
 Universitas Indonesia, RSUPN Dr. Cipto Mangunkusumo
 Vilniaus Universitetas
 Al-Ahliyya Amman University
 European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction
 Ospedale Santa Chiara Pisa
 Haukeland Universitetssjukehus
 CUNY School of Medicine
 Southern Health and Social Care Trust
 Tehran University of Medical Sciences
 The University of Sydney
 Materials and Energy Research Centre Iran
 Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis
 Medical University of South Carolina
 University of Tehran
 University of Botswana
 Yale School of Medicine
 Universiti Malaysia Sabah
 Ain Shams University
 Radboud Universiteit
 Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
 Ain Shams University, Faculty of Medicine
 Scripps Mercy Hospital
 Universiteit Antwerpen
 Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca
 Brown University
 Eastern Health
 School of Medicine
 Hôpitaux Universitaires de Genève
 Universitat de Girona
 All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi
 Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul
 Jane & Terry Semel Institute for Neuroscience & Human Behavior
 Tel Aviv University
 The Catholic University of Korea
 Universidad de Buenos Aires
 Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, School of Medicine
 The Mount Sinai Medical Center
 Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education & Research, Chandigarh
 Chatham House
 Aġenzija Sedqa
 Organization Against Drugs
 Addiction medicine clinic
 Division for Operations
 Addiction Medicine Clinic
 Addiction medicine clinic
 Addiction medicine clinic
 Hayat Center for Treatment and Psycho-social Rehabilitation
 National Narcotics Board of Indonesia
 SerT Lentini
 Serenity Vista Addiction Treatment Center
 Addiction Crisis Solutions
 Community Health Work
 Addiction medicine clinic
 Priority Medical Clinic
 Israel Center on Addiction
 Fuderanan Mental Health Clinic
 Sobriety Centers of New Hampshire
 Naufar Institute
 Al-Amal Psychiatric Hospital
 National Center for Mental Health
 Georgian Harm Reduction Network
 African Institute for Development Policy
 ESIC Medical College
 Drug and Alcohol Clinical Services
 Rebirth Charity Society NGO
 Réseau de prévention des addictions (RESPADD)
 Marmottan Medical Center
 Institute for Cognitive Science Studies
 Public Health Institute of Split-Dalmatia County
 Republican Centre for Addictive Disorders
 Heritage Institute of Medical Sciences
 Kantchelov Clinic
 Center for Research and Information on Substance Abuse
 ASL Teramo
 National Institute for Infectious Diseases

Abstract

Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has impacted people with substance use disorders (SUDs) worldwide, and healthcare systems have reorganized their services in response to the pandemic. Methods: One week after the announcement of the COVID-19 as a pandemic, in a global survey, 177 addiction medicine professionals described COVID-19-related health responses in their own 77 countries in terms of SUD treatment and harm reduction services. The health responses were categorized around (1) managerial measures and systems, (2) logistics, (3) service providers, and (4) vulnerable groups. Results: Respondents from over 88% of countries reported that core medical and psychiatric care for SUDs had continued; however, only 56% of countries reported having had any business continuity plan, and 37.5% of countries reported shortages of methadone or buprenorphine supplies. Participants of 41% of countries reported partial discontinuation of harm-reduction services such as needle and syringe programs and condom distribution. Fifty-seven percent of overdose prevention interventions and 81% of outreach services were also negatively impacted. Conclusions: Participants reported that SUD treatment and harm-reduction services had been significantly impacted globally early during the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on our findings, we highlight several issues and complications resulting from the pandemic concerning people with SUDs that should be tackled more efficiently during the future waves or similar pandemics. The issues and potential strategies comprise the following: (1) helping policymakers to generate business continuity plans, (2) maintaining the use of evidence-based interventions for people with SUDs, (3) being prepared for adequate medication supplies, (4) integrating harm reduction programs with other treatment modalities, and (5) having specific considerations for vulnerable groups such as immigrants and refugees.

Keyword(s)

Medicine

Availability

URI

https://repository.li.mahidol.ac.th/handle/20.500.14594/78276

Collections

Scopus 2021