WHAT REQUIREMENTS DOES CEDEMEX MEDICINE MEET IN THE TREATMENT OF DRUG ADDICTION.
Question 1: Could you tell us why, over the past several decades, drug addiction in Vietnam has received the Government's attention and investment in drug rehabilitation facilities to treat addicted patients, yet the rate of drug addicts has not decreased but has kept increasing?
Answer: The withdrawal-support medications that have been licensed for circulation in Vietnam by the Ministry of Health — the Neuroleptic Regimen (ATK), Methadone, and traditional medicine remedies currently used at drug rehabilitation facilities under the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (now the Ministry of Public Security) — only have the effect of supporting detoxification. They have not yet treated the root cause of addiction: the biological cause, which is drug craving, and psychological dependence; when they return to the community, they remain addicts and continue to use drugs.
Question 2: What requirements does Cedemex medicine meet in the treatment of drug addiction today?
Cedemex is the product of a scientific research project at the Ministry of Health and State levels, and of international cooperation under the 5th Protocol between Vietnam and China, chaired by the Critical Diseases Research and Treatment Institute (RADINER). After 20 years of research, Cedemex medicine was accepted by the Scientific Council of the Vietnam Ministry of Health, which concluded: “Cedemex medicine has high safety; besides gently relieving withdrawal symptoms, it also treats the biological cause of addiction (drug craving), as Cedemex acts on the patient's pituitary gland to produce endogenous morphine to replace exogenous morphine, and treats the cause of psychological dependence… Cedemex medicine has changed the community's perception that drug addiction is not incurable. Drug addiction can be successfully treated when three factors are combined synchronously: Cedemex medicine + the determination of the addicted person + the care and support of family and society.” It is combined with treatment of functional disorders: mental disorders, memory loss, and reduced or lost sexual function. (Excerpted from the Ministry of Health's Acceptance Minutes dated 15/12/2015)
Question 3: Why has Cedemex medicine, despite being licensed by the Ministry of Health for circulation on the market, not been allowed by the Institute to be freely sold on the market to serve addicted patients?
-Drug addiction is a disease that is distinctive both in its causes and in the functional disorders that drugs cause in patients. This is a point that differs from bacterial and viral infectious diseases.
-Patients must be counseled on the treatment method according to the regimen, as well as on precautions against relapse when reintegrating into the community.
-For patients who wish and are determined to be treated for addiction at home with Cedemex medicine, please come to New Hope Hospital at Km 10, Road 5, Phu Thi, Gia Lam, Hanoi, for examination and counseling, and to purchase the medicine for treatment at home.
Question 4: What recommendations do you have for the State regarding the introduction of Cedemex into drug rehabilitation facilities today?
-To fully cure patients addicted to the Opiates group, the addicted person needs to be treated in accordance with the guidelines issued by the Ministry of Health regarding Cedemex medicine, comprising: 5 days of intensive treatment and 6 months of maintenance with Cedemex, combined with treatment of functional disorders: mental disorders, memory loss, and reduced sexual function.
-Coordination is needed between drug addiction treatment facilities and patients' families to fully implement the Cedemex treatment regimen in order to achieve high effectiveness. If only the 5-day intensive treatment period is used to relieve withdrawal symptoms and treat the biological cause (drug craving), when they return to their locality they will still be psychologically dependent (still addicted) and will still use drugs, because they remain addicts.
Cedemex is currently the only drug addiction treatment medicine in the world; drug-addicted patients and their families who wish to be treated in order to successfully return to the community as good citizens are invited to come to the Institute at the address above for examination, counseling, and to purchase Cedemex medicine for treatment at home.
Director
(Signed)
Dr. Nguyen Phu Kieu, PhD
