Recently, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wanan and Democratic Progressive Party Taipei mayoral candidate Shen Boyang sparked social discussions on drug prevention, harm reduction policies, and youth anti-drugs. The National Federation of Medical Associations of the Republic of China and the Taiwan Psychiatric Association issued a joint statement on drug prevention policies today, stating that drug problems involve public health, medical care, education, security, family and social security, and are related to the health of the next generation. Relevant policies should not be used as a tool for political parties or electoral offenses and defenses, but should return to rational discussions of medical evidence and public interests.
The medical community jointly issued a statement today, including the National Federation of Medical Doctor Associations of the Republic of China, Taiwan Psychiatric Association, Yadong Memorial Hospital, Shuanghe Hospital, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, National Cheng Kung University School of Medicine Hospital, Kaohsiung Veterans General Hospital, Taipei Medical Doctors Association, New North City Medical Doctors Association, Yilan County Medical Doctors Association, Keelung City Medical Doctors Association, Kinmen County Medical Doctors Association, Lianjiang County Medical Doctors Association, Taoyuan City Medical Doctors Association, Hsinchu City Medical Doctors Association, Hsinchu County Medical Doctors Association, Taichung City Medical Doctors Association, Taichung City Greater Taichung Medical Doctors Association.
In addition, there are Changhua County Physician Association, Nantou County Physician Association, Yunlin County Physician Association, Chiayi City Physician Association, Chiayi County Physician Association, Tainan City Physician Association, Kaohsiung City Physician Association, Kaohsiung County Physician Association, Pingtung County Physician Association, Penghu County Physician Association, Hualien County Physician Association, and Taitung County Physician Association.
The statement stated that, first of all, drugs have three characteristics: addiction, abuse, and health or social harm. The medical community echoes the current anti-drug policy, including anti-drugs (blocking supply and demand), drug testing (reducing poisoning), detoxification (treatment and recovery), and drug awareness (education, promotion and prevention), and all aspects must be complete. Especially for children and adolescents, more active and effective preventive education, early identification and appropriate intervention measures should be adopted. Campus safety and family support should also be strengthened to reduce the risk of adolescents being exposed to and using drugs.
Secondly, anti-drug and harm reduction are not mutually exclusive policies, but a double net of protection. For patients who have developed addiction problems, the mission of medical care is to make patients who have been suffering from long-term darkness and pain be willing to come to the clinic to discuss treatment strategies; through professional assessment, drug treatment, psychological and social support, and continuous follow-up, we can help patients reduce health risks, break away from addiction, and gradually return to normal life.
The statement mentioned that the World Health Organization has continued to emphasize in recent years that evidence-based treatment should be provided for heroin addicts, including drug treatment such as methadone and butylnorphine and psychosocial support; harm reduction measures such as clean needle exchange are also important tools for preventing infection and linking medical treatment.
The three arrows of the harm reduction policy are education, medical care, and clean needle exchange. In the past, Taiwan implemented harm reduction policies and successfully reduced blood-borne infectious diseases such as AIDS and hepatitis. It also made great contributions to the fight against heroin addiction and was recognized internationally. Supporting harm reduction does not mean encouraging drug abuse, nor should it be reduced to "supporting drugs" or "condoning drugs". Likewise, a clear distinction must be made between legally controlled drug use for legitimate medical purposes and non-medical drug use. Public policies should be based on clear legal norms, rigorous medical supervision and complete effectiveness evaluation to avoid misinformation causing social misunderstanding.
The National Federation of Medical Doctors Associations of the Republic of China and the Taiwan Psychiatric Association jointly called for any future drug policy discussions to include "protecting children, reducing addiction, treating patients, blocking the source of drugs, and maintaining social security" as common goals rather than mutual opposition. For different policy proposals, scientific evidence, implementation methods, risk assessments and effectiveness indicators should be publicly presented to allow society to discuss rationally with sufficient information.
The statement emphasized that the medical profession does not belong to any political party and should not be used as a tool for political offense and defense. In the face of the drug problem, the medical community is willing to cooperate with the central and local governments, education, police, social affairs and civil society to establish a drug prevention system that takes into account health, public security and human rights based on the principles of "prevention first, children and adolescents first, treatment-based, evidence-based decision-making, and medical, police, social and political cooperation".
