What wastewater reveals about drug use in Hanoi, Vietnam with Phong Thai

In this episode, Dr Elle Wadsworth talks to Dr Phong Thai, an Associate Professor at Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences, Australia. The interview covers Phong’s research article on a wastewater study measuring illegal drug use in Hanoi, Vietnam, to determine the feasibility of conducting wastewater analysis in a low-income country.

Note: The acronym ‘UNODC’ used in this episode stands for the ‘United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime’.

• Why looking at illegal drug use in Vietnam is important [01:07]
• Wastewater analysis and its utility in a low-income country [02:00]
• The biomarkers of focus [03:55]
• Why the authors chose Hanoi, Vietnam, to pilot wastewater analysis in South East Asia [05:38]
• Vietnam’s location and relation to drug trafficking in South East Asia [07:12]
• The Golden Triangle [08:22]
• The main findings of the study [08:48]
• Ketamine’s rise in popularity in Vietnam [10:16]
• The impact of COVID-19 on the consumption of drugs in Vietnam [11:18]
• Why are synthetic drugs becoming more popular? [12:30]
• The feasibility of conducting wastewater analysis in a low-income country [13:33]
• The take-home messages of the study [15:34]

About Elle Wadsworth: Elle is an academic fellow with the Society for the Study of Addiction. She is based at the University of Bath with the Addiction and Mental Health Group and her research interests include drug policy, cannabis legalisation, and public health.

About Phong Thai: Phong is an ARC Mid-Career Industry Fellow and Associate Professor at Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences (QAEHS). His research focus involves the expansion of wastewater-based epidemiological approach to estimate community consumption and exposure to a range of legal and illegal substances (including tobacco and alcohol) and pharmaceuticals, as well as the monitoring of community infection to COVID-19 during the last pandemic. He is a member of the team who manage the National Wastewater Drug Monitoring Program in Australia and has helped pioneering wastewater drug monitoring in several countries.

Original article: Significant changes in preference of illicit drug use in a population of Hanoi, Vietnam – A 6-year wastewater study (2018–2023) https://doi.org/10.1111/add.70147

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