{"id":173990,"date":"2025-12-08T17:42:13","date_gmt":"2025-12-08T17:42:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/173990\/"},"modified":"2025-12-08T17:42:13","modified_gmt":"2025-12-08T17:42:13","slug":"mp-calls-for-more-investment-in-anti-opioid-medications","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/173990\/","title":{"rendered":"MP calls for more investment in anti-opioid medications"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n Kit Malthouse<\/a> MP is urging the Government to expand the use of long-acting injectable buprenorphine (LAIB), a medication that supports recovery from opioid addiction and is already in limited use across England.\n<\/p>\n

\n Mr Malthouse said: “A key part of the ten-year drug strategy I devised as Policing Minister was the rollout of Buprenorphine.\n<\/p>\n

\n “It\u2019s a medicine used to treat opioid dependence, and can be given as a weekly or monthly injection instead of a daily tablet.\n<\/p>\n

\n “It makes it easier for people to stay in treatment, stabilises their lives, and cuts the risk of relapse.”\n <\/p>\n

\n There are currently more than 1,700 people in opiate treatment in Hampshire.\n<\/p>\n

\n Mr Malthouse believes expanding access to LAIB could help turn their lives around and reduce drug-related reoffending.\n<\/p>\n

\n He said: “And the financial case is overwhelming \u2014 prolific offending linked to heroin addiction can cost hundreds of thousands of pounds each year, while LAIB costs around \u00a33,000.\n<\/p>\n

\n “In my view, this is the single most effective step we can take to reduce drug deaths, addiction related crime, and the violence that comes with it.\n<\/p>\n

\n “I hope Ministers listen.”\n<\/p>\n

\n While LAIB is licensed and recommended in the UK, its uptake in England remains far behind other parts of the UK.\n<\/p>\n

\n Only five per cent are receiving the treatment, compared to 25 per cent in Scotland, 26 per cent in Northern Ireland and 38 per cent in Wales.\n<\/p>\n

\n Mr Malthouse is working with Police and Crime<\/a> Commissioner, Donna Jones, to press for wider use of LAIB as part of efforts to break the cycle of addiction and crime.\n<\/p>\n

\n Buvidal,\u00a0prolonged-release\/injectable buprenorphine,\u00a0is already used in some community clinics and prisons in England, but most opioid substitution treatment currently involves methadone or sublingual buprenorphine.\n<\/p>\n

\n Current use of LAIB remains limited despite positive early results.\n<\/p>\n

\n Pilot studies have reported reduced queues and integration into care pathways.\n<\/p>\n

\n The National Institute for Health<\/a> and Care Excellence (NICE) recommends Buvidal as an option for people with opioid dependence.\n<\/p>\n

\n It notes potential side effects, such as injection site reactions and possible drug interactions, but supports its clinical use.\n <\/p>\n

\n A national trial is ongoing in England \u2013 the EXPO study \u2013 which is examining the effectiveness and value for money of injectable buprenorphine compared with standard care.\n<\/p>\n

\n The trial forms part of the NHS\u2019s research into scaling up the treatment.\n<\/p>\n

\n Despite this, only a small proportion of patients currently benefit from LAIB, and Mr Malthouse says faster action is needed to save lives and prevent further harm.\n<\/p>\n

\n Hampshire residents struggling with opioid addiction can access support and information through their local NHS trust or council-funded drug and alcohol services.\n<\/p>\n

\n Services in the county are delivered by organisations such as Inclusion Hampshire and provide confidential advice, treatment and recovery programmes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kit Malthouse MP is urging the Government to expand the use of long-acting injectable buprenorphine (LAIB), a medication…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":173991,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[134,524,111,139,69],"class_list":{"0":"post-173990","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-medication","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-medication","10":"tag-new-zealand","11":"tag-newzealand","12":"tag-nz"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173990","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=173990"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173990\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/173991"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=173990"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=173990"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=173990"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}