Durban drug therapy project is changing lives for the better

DURBAN addicts are kicking their addictions thanks to the groundbreaking Opiod Substitution Therapy (OST) project that was launched in June 2017. Ten months after the first beneficiary was initiated onto Methadone in the OST project it is evident that lives are being changed for the better.

The project came about in mid-2014, when the Urban Futures Centre (UFC) at the Durban University of Technology (DUT) was approached by a concerned group in Durban about the ‘moral panic’ and vigilante actions that emerged in response to the collective living of a group of whoonga (low grade heroin) users in a public park in Durban.

Not only was this group viewed as a threat to public health, its members were also accused of being responsible for a seemingly growing amount of petty crime incidents in the surrounding suburbs of Glenwood and Umbilo.

The group that approached the UFC – which included church-based representatives and a police officer – were less concerned about the problems confronting suburban dwellers and more concerned about the welfare and rights of street level drug users who were being dealt with in very harsh ways by local residents and police.

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Since this first meeting, the UFC has embarked on various research and advocacy initiatives, including setting up a research project called Pathways into and out of street level drug use, and established a multi-stakeholder KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) Harm Reduction Advocacy Group.

As part of its broader research and advocacy initiatives, the UFC has partnered with the TB/HIV Care Association (THCA) to undertake the OST demonstration project.

OST can be defined as a health intervention that involves replacing an illegal opioid drug, such as heroin, with a longer acting but less euphoric opioid, usually methadone or buprenorphine, which is taken under medical direction.

The demonstration project was guided by objectives to demonstrate the feasibility and acceptability of providing OST for a cohort of 50 people with heroin use disorders over a period of 18 months in eThekwini through a public-private partnership in a primary care setting.

The project implements a range of low cost psycho-social interventions for OST beneficiaries designed to empower them to enhance self-efficacy and well-being and enable them to move towards (re)integration into the community. The study findings will be used to enhance approaches used to manage heroin and other substance use disorders in South Africa.

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The UFC and THCA established a multi-stakeholder task team to oversee the project implementation, monitoring and evaluation. The task team includes representatives from the national and provincial Departments of Health and Social Development, as well as police, academics and harm reduction service providers. OST is delivered to beneficiaries from THCA’s Drop-In Centre in Umbilo, which has established referral networks to other medical and psychosocial services in eThekwini.

Berea Mail met with some of the project’s beneficiary this month who shared their uplifting and emotional stories of how the project has changed their lives for the better.

Sibongile Mdletshe started using heroin in 2009. It was not a good journey, he said, and resulted in him losing the respect of his neighbourhood community and the trust of his parents along the way.

“I found out about the project from another drug user in May last year. I was living in the bush at the time. I went to sign up for the programme and the change was drastic. I stopped stealing and the way people talked to me started changing. I was taught about hygiene and how to smell good. I was never clean while I was on heroin. The programme changed me dramatically. I wouldn’t know where to start to say thank you. I want to try help others to stop drugs,” he said.

Wonder Ngcoya joined the programme in June 2017 encouraged by his brother and Professor Monique Marks, principle investigator and head of the Urban Futures Centre at the Durban University of Technology.

“I was living on the street outside Woolworths and was using sugars and heroin. I never thought about myself. I never thought I would be able to go back home. People said I would never change my life, but now things are coming right. I have moved home and bought new clothes. I’m not smoking whoonga anymore,” he said.

Siyabonga Mbeki grew up in the Eastern Cape and started smoking dagga when he was 15 years old. After seven years, the drug no longer gave him the highs he craved and he felt he needed something more. He turned to mandrax, but realised he needed money to support his addiction. Siyabonga moved to Durban where he joined a group of men whose drug of choice was smoking heroin.

“I felt good but I didn’t realise the consequences. I would work every day but needed to smoke to be able to sleep,” he said. Siyabonga earned a living washing cars at the taxi rank, but was arrested for selling heroin. He spent a year in jail and after his release, didn’t want to go back to his old lifestyle. However, meeting up with his group of friends again it wasn’t long before he picked up his old drug habit. I was worse than before. I never thought I would be a person again. I started stealing, but then I met a guy who said he was tired of smoking whoonga and was going to start the programme. After I saw the change in him, I realised if he could stop, there was no reason why I couldn’t,” he said.

Siyabonga joined the programme shortly afterwards and has been off heroin for seven months.

Amos Jali, another of the beneficiaries, could not stop thanking the programme directors for what they had done for him and changing his life around. He proudly announced that he had been clean from drugs for nine months. .

Musa Sibisa (32) is equally proud of his seven month clean sheet since starting on the programme. He told how he had started smoking shoonga eight years ago and only joined the programme after hearing about it from a friend.

“I did wrong before, I was involved in crime. But now I am clean, I have respect and it has helped a lot. I know what I want in life. There are still opportunities for me and I believe everything is possible if you are alive and believe in God,” he said.

Xolani Msomi, (26), smoked heroin for seven years and supported his habit by stealing. He started the programme in June last year and says it has changed his life.

“This [programme] is enabling us to make a success of ourselves in life. The programme has taught me about harm reduction and about hygiene . My family is happy as they have seen the change in me. I don’t want to disappoint them,” he said.

After smoking heroin for years, stealing, lying and cheating, until he didn’t care about his life, Malusi Mbatha, (29), finally says he has finally been released of his addiction.

“I tried quitting many times, and went to rehabs to try stop for the sake of my family. But I got tired of trying and questioned why I was here in life. I took the first step to stop by joining the programme. The staff welcomed me with open arms and I realised it was possible to change. The first three weeks were hard and I had to fight the cravings, but I now realise how important life is. I couldn’t believe that there were people who were passionate about my life. I told myself I had to do it 100 per cent. I stopped and my life has changed. It’s my dream to live a simple, blessed life and to give back to show it is possible to change,” he said.

Siyabonga Madlala, (22), was just 14 years old when he started smoking whoonga. He explained how he after being in and out of rehabs, he joined the programme in August last year.

“I was welcomed at the centre and managed to stop smoking whoonga with the help of the programme. I have started school now and am studying civil engineering. Things have changed a lot for me. I was on the street, but I have now become a person again,” he said.

In May 2017 Alistair Edwards, (31), found himself living on the streets. He was accepted to the programme last year and has been ‘clean’ for nine months. “I have started working and am studying welding part time. I have been allowed home again, and things are going well,” he said.

After smoking whoonga for 13 years, Sifiso Xulu, (31), joined the programme and now works as a plumber.

“I feel everything is okay now. I work, I come fetch my medication. It was hard to leave the drugs, it takes time, but I now know what I want. I take my medication and I think about my future. I don’t want to go back,” he said, thanking the staff for what they had done for him.

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