Cardiff Support teams help people with addictions
Due to the CoVid19 pandemic, a new drug has been rolled out across Wales to aid the fight against heroin addiction.
Buvidal is a heroin substitute. It’s injected once a month, unlike Methadone, which needs to be taken daily. This means that people recovering from addiction won’t need to travel to pharmacies or GPs for treatment every day – which will minimise possible contact with the virus. Our service users, who are recovering from heroin addiction are more vulnerable to becoming ill because of the damage heroin has caused to their bodies.
Rob, who is a Project Worker at Pobl’s homeless services, has worked his magic with residents to encourage them to take advantage of fast access prescribing of Buvidal. Two individuals are signed up to start treatment imminently after years of heroin dependency.
Not sure how much everyone knows about Buvidal but Cardiff drugs services are offering rapid prescribing of what sounds like a wonderdrug for anyone with an opiate dependency. This has been a huge relief to both service users as drug availability is really limited and the costs have spiralled so both were becoming anxious about how they were going to be able to maintain their habits without resorting to criminal activity. Time for both to start planning for a new life away from being tied to daily pick up of Methadone or Subutex and the indignity of supervised consumption at the start of the prescribing cycle. Craig Smith, Area Manager for Cardiff
This new drug will allow for the support to continue in a safe way and reduce the risk of spreading the virus.
It’s great to see the teams acting quickly to the innovative ways available at the moment. They are supporting and encouraging service users to make a huge change in what is a really difficult time for all of us, but more so for someone with a long term dependency.
