An approach to heroin use disorder intervention within the South African context: a content analysis study.

Background: The field of heroin use disorder intervention has been in transition in South Africa since the outbreak of the heroin epidemic. Yet despite growing evidence of an association between heroin users' use of supplementary intervention services and intervention outcomes, heroin use disorder intervention programmes in South Africa generally fail to meet international research-based intervention standards.

Methods: Semi-structured interviews with ten heroin use disorder specialists were conducted and the interviews were subjected to content analysis.

Co-morbidity and cannabis use in a mental health trust in South East England.

Aim: The prevalence of co-morbidity (severe mental illness and substance) may be less in rural and semi-rural areas than inner cities. The aims were therefore to measure the prevalence of co-morbidity among patients of attending a mental health service in a semi-rural area South East England.

Design And Participants: Cross-sectional prevalence survey of 1,808 patients with detailed assessments from a representative sample of 373 patients identified as having a combination of severe mental illness and substance misuse.

Diamorphine treatment for opiate dependence: putative markers of concomitant heroin misuse.

The supply of substitute opioid medication as a treatment for heroin dependence is now common practice. There is growing international interest in the prescription of injectable diamorphine for subgroups of patients who are unable to stop injecting opiate drugs; in the United Kingdom it is estimated that there are currently 300 patients prescribed diamorphine for this purpose. The detection of illicit heroin misuse (through urinary diamorphine metabolites) is confounded in subjects prescribed diamorphine.