Patients registered in Outpatient Opioid Assisted Treatment (OOAT) centres across Punjab and those in private de-addiction centres will soon have to mark their biometric attendance before they are administered the combination of buprenorphine — the substitute medicine given for the opioid use disorder. The Punjab Health Department is set to buy around 1,100 biometric devices with specific configurations and one high-definition web camera each for 529 OOAT centres, officials said. "The patient will have to mark attendance twice on the biometric devices placed at points of marking their entry to the centre at the time of registration and at the dispensation point where buprenorphine will be administered to them," a senior Punjab Health Department officer told The Indian Express. The official said the move is aimed at checking any probable pilferage of the substitute medicine and to ensure it is only administered to registered patients who require it. As per the existing arrangement at OOAT centres, registered patients need to walk into the centre with an identity proof like an Aadhaar card and the details are fed into a dedicated portal, including the quantity of medicine dispensed. The proposed biometric linking would be done on a new portal, which would be made operational after procuring the biometric devices and HD web cameras, said the official, adding that the portal was ready to be used. The Punjab Health Department has already directed private de-addiction centres to purchase a “level 1 biometric machine compatible” with the new portal. The Punjab Health and Family Welfare directorate in a letter to Deputy Commissioners-cum-Chairmen of the district level committees and Civil Surgeons-cum-member secretaries of the district level committees across the State had on April 29 asked them to ensure private de-addiction centres get equipped with “level 1 biometric machines” and “HD webcams” within 15 days of the issue of the letter. Following the directions, private centres have purchased compatible biometric machines. The letter by the Punjab Health Department also listed three Unique Identification Authority of India-certified device vendors/manufacturers along with the device model and name. In September 2022, private de-addiction centres were directed to maintain staff and patients’ attendance through a biometric system, following which private de-addiction centres purchased biometric devices. A doctor running a private de-addiction centre, wishing not to be named said, “Apart from entering the details of the patients and medicine disbursed on the existing portal, we were maintaining the biometric attendance record. After the new guidelines, we have already purchased another biometric device, which is compatible with the new portal. The new portal will automatically integrate the biometric attendance as soon as it is marked.” The decision to go in for biometric attendance of registered patients and its integration with the new portal was taken at a state-level meeting of the health department on February 8. A government officer said before the launch of the new portal, staff at OOAT centres and private de-addiction centres would undergo training. Apart from 529 OOAT centres being run by the government, there are 36 government de-addiction centres and 177 private de-addiction centres in the State. There were 193 OOAT centres in the State, the number of which increased to 199 by 2020 and 206 in 2021. In 2022, the number of OOAT centres increased to 528 with the addition of another centre last year. The number of private de-addiction centres was 105 in 2019 and 177 by last year. Out of the total 9.83 lakh patients, 2.84 lakh are registered at OOAT centres for substitute medicine therapy and 6.98 lakh with private de-addiction centres. Till last year, OOAT centres had purchased buprenorphine-based substitute therapy pills worth over Rs 282 crore to administer to the patients registered at the centres. From 2019 till June this year, 38.89 crore buprenorphine tablets of 2 mg potency and 7.48 crore tablets of 0.4 mg potency were distributed. During the Covid pandemic in 2020, when there were 199 OOAT centres, more than 6.95 crore buprenorphine tablets of 2 mg and 34.92 lakh of 0.4 mg dosage were distributed. According to a counsellor at one of the OOAT centres, “Such was the impact of disruption of demand and supply of illegal drugs during the pandemic that the centres used to witness well-off people in their SUVs heading to OOAT centres for substitute therapy as they were finding it difficult to get illegal drugs from outside.” As per the official records, private de-addiction centres have disbursed 52.65 crore pills of 2 mg each and 28.26 crore of 0.4 mg potency from 2019 till June this year. While the Punjab health department purchases the pills for OOAT centres, the private de-addiction centres make purchases on their own from the manufacturers but are bound to record the disbursal of the medicine on the government portal.
