The Czech Republic Annual Report 2010 Drug ... - Drogy-info.cz

The population of substitution treatment patients taking medicinal products containing buprenorphine and problem
users of buprenorphine (especially Subutex ® ) overlap. In the Multiplier 2010 study (for more information see the
chapter on Problem Drug Use, p. 48) focused on the estimated share of problem drug users in contact with lowthreshold
facilities, data were found regarding the proportion of problem opiate users who were included in the
substitution programme in 2009. The share of problem users who are participating in substitution treatment was
estimated at 8% (95% CI: 7–10%) of problem drug users or 23% (95% CI: 20–27%) of problem opiate users – this
represents an estimated approximately 3,000 people (mean estimate); for more information see the 2009 Annual
Report.
The overlap of both groups – groups of patients using medicinal products containing buprenorphine in treatment and
groups of patients in contact with low-threshold programmes with problem use (administration by injection and/or not
prescribed by a doctor, black market products) of products containing buprenorphine (especially Subutex ® ) – is
generally described in Figure 5-2. The interface between substitution treatment and other harm reduction
interventions can be viewed as a positive factor 71 and used in the treatment process, where it is still viewed
negatively and as a stigma.
Figure 5-2: Overlap of problem Subutex ® users and substitution treatment patients using buprenorphine-based products
in 2009–2010, estimate based on available data
5.2.2.3 Sobering-up Stations
Sobering-up stations – special healthcare facilities for short-term stays (in the range of several hours) and for
detoxification in case of acute intoxication, particularly alcohol intoxication – are a special type of outpatient facility in
the Czech Republic. The first information about the number of sobering-up stations is available from 1963, when 21
facilities with 222 beds were reported. Numbers peaked at the end of the 1980s, when 34 stations with about 330
beds were reported; in 2009 there were just 14 facilities with 137 beds. Two new sobering-up stations were reported
in 2010 in the Central Bohemia and Olomouc regions, raising the number of sobering-up stations to 16 with a total of
157 beds. In 2010 sobering-up stations were located in all regions except Ústí nad Labem and Liberec – Map 5-2
(Nechanská et al. 2011; Mravcík et al. 2011a; Nechanská, 2011e).
71 The current involvement in both types of interventions is proving to be associated with a lower risk of HIV and HCV infection among injecting drug
users and with a reduction in risk behaviour among injecting drug users (Van den Berg et al. 2007; Turner et al. 2011; Hagan et al. 2011).
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