Over the past few years, Oman has taken several steps to strengthen the drug dependence treatment services within the Ministry of Health. A WHO mission took place from 26 to 30 January 2013 to support the national team in the development of a harm reduction policy. While in Oman, the team reviewed the draft substance abuse harm reduction protocol and developed a framework for a national policy with a team of psychiatrists, nurses, counsellors and social workers.
Drug dependence treatment is an important part of demand reduction and public health approaches to respond to the issue of the drug dependence. It can be treated effectively with medicines and standardized psychological therapies. These treatment services also try to help decrease the harm associated with substance abuse, particularly HIV/AIDS and hepatitis.
WHO strongly supports harm reduction as an evidence-based approach to the prevention, treatment and care for people who inject drugs; it includes a comprehensive package, including needle and syringe programmes, drug dependence treatment (including opioid substitution), HIV testing and counselling, and risk reduction counselling.