Kathmandu, December 20, 2005

With the increasing problem of drug and alcohol addiction in the country, the Norvic Escorts International Hospital is introducing the latest method of de-addiction treatment soon. Dr Sanjay Chugh, the founder chairman of the International Institute for De-addiction Research and Therapy (IIDRT), said the de-addiction treatment is very expensive as the implants needed are imported from abroad and only IIDRT in Delhi has been providing the facility. IIDRT will help to start the programme at the Norvic Hospital. The cost of Naltrexone implants, which are necessary in the latest treatment, cost around Indian Rs 210,000 for a year and Rs 65,000 for a three month implantation. Under this strategy, the addicts would undergo Ultra Rapid Opioid Detoxification (UROD), which takes just a few hours as compared to longer period of detoxification in conventional treatment, which lead to high risk of relapse. The biggest fear that prevents an addict from giving up drug or alcohol addiction is that of the intense discomfort experienced during withdrawal. “The major reason for people dropping out of treatment midway will be eliminated with UROD,” Dr Chugh said. Unfortunately, will power and determination are not the pillars of relapse prevention. According to Dr Chugh, the failure rate of treatment stands at around 95 per cent in conventional treatment. “That is, a relapse is almost inevitable within a few days to a few weeks after detoxification, but with UROD it will not be repeated,” he said. “UROD is a painless way of withdrawal for opiate addicts,” he said.

BIMST-EC ready to crunch numbers

The 10th meeting of Trade Negotiation Committee (TNC) of BIMSTEC, comprising of seven countries, namely Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand, is all set to take place from December 21 to 27 here in the capital, with a view to sort out trade issues before BIMST-EC comes into force on July 1, 2006. Sources at the ministry of industry, commerce and supplies, said issues concerning the countries such as rules of origin and dispute settlement are being discussed at the final round of negotiations. BIMST-EC, renamed as Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation, meeting being held in Kathmandu will be on fast track and a normal track. The issue of the negative list has been a sensitive one between BIMST-EC members. The TNC meeting is being held at the joint secretary level which is represented by all member countries. The items kept by member countries in the tentative proposed list to be discussed in the meeting are Nepal (1,300), Bangladesh (1,300), Bhutan (1,278), India (1,367), Myanmar (342) and Sri Lanka (1,306).