A new drug to treat opiate dependence will save addicts time and money, giving them the potential to get their lives back on track.
It's the first new drug in a decade to tackle addiction to opiates, which include heroin and pharmaceuticals such as oxycodone and fentanyl.
The drug, named Buvidal, was listed on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme on Sunday. It includes the opioid buprenorphine.
Buprenorphine has been used for some time to treat opiate dependence. But it's the new form of the drug, as a long-acting medication, that will make a big difference.
Professor Adrian Dunlop, who is Hunter New England Health's drug and alcohol services director, said the drug was delivered in a similar way to insulin.
"It's injected by a healthcare professional in a clinic. It's certainly not into a vein or artery," he said.
"It slowly releases over a week or month. That means the patient doesn't have to come in every day to get their medication."
The treatment will be given with medical and psychological support.
Prior to the new drug's release, the treatment of opiate dependence had been expensive and time-consuming.
Doses had to be supervised to reduce the chances of the drug getting into the hands of non-patients.
The way the new drug will be administered will lower the cost of providing treatment.
"That means it's more affordable for patients and we can potentially get patients treatment who couldn't access it before," Professor Dunlop said.
Rural areas, for example, often have one pharmacy or no pharmacies.
And not all pharmacies choose to offer drugs to treat opiate dependence.
Additionally, when patients get medications from a pharmacy, they have to pay a dispensing fee that can vary from $25 to $45 a week.
"Many of our patients are on Newstart benefits," Professor Dunlop said.
"That's a significant slice of Newstart if you have to pay rent and do other things, like look for a job."
Over the last 20 years, there's been "lots of submissions made to the federal government, saying there needs to be a system to better fund these patients".
"At worse, they can't afford their treatment, so the pharmacist won't continue to deliver it. Then they don't get any more treatment."
Hunter New England Health has run trials of the new drug. This has enabled some patients to "get jobs and go back to education", particularly now they have more time and money.
"Before they were spending a couple of hours on a bus going to a clinic each day," he said.
