IHRD Joins Drug Treatment and HIV Experts in Criticizing Russian Memorandum Against Methadone Programs

On March 30, 2005, a memorandum, “Say No to Methadone Programs in the Russian Federation,” was published in the Russian Medical Newspaper (Meditsinskaya Gazeta), republished in the journal Issues in Narcology, and distributed widely to drug treatment professionals across Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. The memo was signed by important figures in Russian medicine and government, including V. N. Krasnov, Chair of the Russian Society of Psychiatrists, N. N. Ivanets, Director of the National Center on Addictions, and A. S. Kononets, Deputy Director of the Department of Corrections of the Russian Ministry of Justice.

Regrettably, the memorandum contained numerous factual errors. These are all the more alarming since methadone, which is proven effective in reducing HIV risk and increasing adherence to HIV medication, is likely to be critically important to the containment of Russia’s HIV epidemic. As of December 31, 2005, 85 percent of the cumulative registered HIV cases in Russia were among injecting drug users, according to the Epidemiological Department of the Russia Federal AIDS Center. Failure to provide a lifesaving means of stopping drug use will mean more HIV infections and lives lost.

On May 11, 2006, Kasia Malinowska-Sempruch, director of IHRD, joined more than fifty drug treatment and HIV experts from around the world to express their concern to the authors of the memorandum, providing a detailed list of corrections of the record.

The memorandum, letter of concern, and list of corrections to the memo are available for download in English and in Russian.