Expanding Access to Buprenorphine and Methadone: Global Perspectives and Policy Recommendations

Substance Use and Addiction Journal

This is a narrative review of methadone and buprenorphine regulations, prescriber eligibility, dispensing models, and coverage across eight countries: the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Russia, France, Iran, Australia, and Portugal. The study identified several key barriers to MOUD: requirements for daily supervised dosing, restricted community prescribing, and stigmatizing drug scheduling. The authors highlight policies that improved MOUD access without compromising safety such as: 1) community pharmacy dispensing supports in the U.K. and Australia, 2) liberal buprenorphine prescribing in primary care in France, and 3) decriminalization and expansion of low-threshold public health models in Portugal and Iran.

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