The impact of COVID-19 across health services, including treatment services for people who use drugs, is emerging but likely to have a high impact. Treatment services for people who use drugs provide essential treatment services including opiate agonist treatment and needle syringe programmes alongside other important treatment programmes across all substance types including withdrawal and counselling services. Drug and alcohol hospital consultation-liaison clinicians support emergency departments and other services provided in hospital settings in efficiently managing patients who use drugs and present with other health problems.COVID-19 will impact on staff availability for work due to illness. Patients may require home isolation and quarantine periods. Ensuring ongoing supply of opiate treatment during these periods will require significant changes to how treatment is provided. The use of monthly depot buprenorphine as well as moving from a framework of supervised dosing will be required for patients on sublingual buprenorphine and methadone. Ensuring ready access to take-home naloxone for patients is crucial to reduce overdose risks. Delivery of methadone and buprenorphine to the homes of people with confirmed COVID-19 infections is likely to need to occur to support home isolation.People who use drugs are likely to be more vulnerable during the COVID-19 epidemic, due to poorer health literacy and stigma and discrimination towards this group. People who use drugs may prioritise drug use above other health concerns. Adequate supply of clean injecting equipment is important to prevent outbreaks of blood-borne viruses. Opiate users may misinterpret SARS-CoV2 symptoms as opiate withdrawal and manage this by using opioids. Ensuring people who use drugs have access to drug treatment as well as access to screening and testing for SARS-CoV2 where this is indicated is important.

中文翻译：

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在 COVID-19 大流行期间为吸毒者维持治疗服务面临的挑战。


COVID-19 对卫生服务（包括针对吸毒者的治疗服务）的影响正在显现，但可能会产生很大的影响。为吸毒者提供的治疗服务提供基本的治疗服务，包括阿片激动剂治疗和针头注射器计划，以及所有药物类型的其他重要治疗计划，包括戒断和咨询服务。毒品和酒精医院咨询联络临床医生支持急诊科和医院环境中提供的其他服务，以有效管理吸毒和出现其他健康问题的患者。COVID-19 将影响员工因病上班的时间。患者可能需要居家隔离和隔离期。要确保在这些时期持续提供阿片类药物治疗，就需要对治疗的提供方式进行重大改变。对于舌下含服丁丙诺啡和美沙酮的患者，需要每月使用长效丁丙诺啡以及放弃监督剂量框架。确保患者能够随时获得带回家的纳洛酮对于降低用药过量风险至关重要。可能需要向确诊的 COVID-19 感染者的家中运送美沙酮和丁丙诺啡，以支持家庭隔离。由于健康素养较差，吸毒者在 COVID-19 流行期间可能更容易受到伤害。对这个群体的耻辱和歧视。吸毒者可能会将吸毒置于其他健康问题之上。充足供应清洁注射设备对于防止血源性病毒爆发非常重要。阿片类药物使用者可能会将 SARS-CoV2 症状误解为阿片类药物戒断，并通过使用阿片类药物来控制这种情况。 确保吸毒者能够获得药物治疗以及 SARS-CoV2 筛查和检测（如有需要）非常重要。