Heroin-assisted treatment in the Netherlands: History, findings, and international context.

This monograph describes the history, findings and international context of heroin-assisted treatment (HAT) in the Netherlands. The monograph consists of (1) a short introduction and seven paragraphs describing the following aspects of HAT in the Netherlands: (2) history of HAT studies and implementation of routine HAT in the Netherlands; (3) main findings on efficacy, safety and cost-effectiveness from the two randomized controlled HAT trials in the Netherlands; (4) new findings from a large cohort study on the effectiveness of HAT in routine clinical practice in the Netherlands; (5) unique data on the patient's perspective of HAT; (6) data on the pharmacological and pharmaceutical basis for HAT in the Netherlands; (7) description of the registration process; and (8) account of the international context of HAT. Together, these data show that HAT can now be considered a safe and proven-effective intervention for the treatment of chronic, treatment-resistant heroin dependent patients. Copyright 2010 Elsevier B.V. and ECNP. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.