Dissolution of a harm reduction track for opiate agonist treatment: longitudinal impact on treatment retention, substance use and service utilization.

Background: There is great need to sustain harm reduction programmes for opiate-dependent persons, given variable retention of opioid agonist treatment (OAT) enrolees. Resource challenges may lead some health organizations to discontinue such programmes, though just as programmatic evaluation may determine efficacy and cost-effectiveness so to does it aid in examining impacts of programme dissolution.

Methods: This retrospective evaluation investigated impacts of the dissolution of a 'Minimal Services' (MS) harm reduction programme for substance-abusing OAT clientele at an urban U.