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

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


The opinions expressed in this podcast reflect the views of the host and interviewees and do not necessarily represent the opinions or official positions of the SSA or Addiction journal.

The SSA does not endorse or guarantee the accuracy of the information in external sources or links and accepts no responsibility or liability for any consequences arising from the use of such information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Avsnitt(110)

Pay for Performance funding and emergency hospital admissions with Thomas Mason

Pay for Performance funding and emergency hospital admissions with Thomas Mason

Rob Calder talks to Dr Thomas Mason about his research on pay for performance models of addiction treatment and how they were associated with increased emergency hospital admissions. Mason T, Whittaker W, Jones A, Sutton M. Did paying drugs misuse treatment providers for outcomes lead to unintended consequences for hospital admissions? Difference-in-differences analysis of a pay-for-performance scheme in England. Addiction 2021 https://doi.org/10.1111/add.15486 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

1 Juni 202119min

Vaping and smoking cessation with Máirtín McDermott and Leonie Brose

Vaping and smoking cessation with Máirtín McDermott and Leonie Brose

Rob Calder talks to Dr Máirtín McDermott and Dr Leonie Brose about their research into the effectiveness of e-cigarettes for quitting smoking.McDermott M.S, East K.A, Brose L.S, McNeill A, Hitchman S.C, Partos T.R. The effectiveness of using e‐cigarettes for quitting smoking compared to other cessation methods among adults in the United Kingdom. Addiction 2021. https://doi.org/10.1111/add.15474 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

28 Apr 202117min

Alcohol attributable mortality in the Americas with Maristela Monteiro

Alcohol attributable mortality in the Americas with Maristela Monteiro

Rob Calder talks to Dr Maristela Monteiro about deaths in the Americas between 2013 and 2015 that were 100% attributable to alcohol. Chrystoja B.R, Monteiro M.G, Owe G, Pinheiro Gawryszewski V, Rehm J, Shield K. Mortality in the Americas from 2013 to 2015 resulting from diseases, conditions and injuries which are 100% alcohol attributable. Addiction 2021 https://doi.org/10.1111/add.15475 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

12 Apr 202120min

Social norms and smoking behaviour with Katie East

Social norms and smoking behaviour with Katie East

Rob Calder speaks to Dr Katie East about her research into social norms in relation to smoking behaviourEast K, McNeill A, Thrasher JF, Hitchman SC. Social norms as a predictor of smoking uptake among youth: a systematic review, meta‐analysis and meta‐regression of prospective cohort studies. Addiction 2021 https://doi.org/10.1111/add.15427 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

8 Apr 202111min

Heroin use and general population surveys with Jon Caulkins

Heroin use and general population surveys with Jon Caulkins

Rob Calder speaks to Professor Jon Caulkins about his Addiction Opinion & Debate article discussing the difficulties of measuring heroin use with general population surveysReuter P, Caulkins JP, Midgette G. Heroin Use Cannot Be Measured Adequately with a General Population Survey. Addiction 2021 https://doi.org/10.1111/add.15458 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

30 Mars 202116min

Alcohol policy and gender with Petra Meier

Alcohol policy and gender with Petra Meier

Rob Calder speaks to Professor Petra Meier about her research using computer modelling to estimate how the impact of alcohol pricing policies might differ according to gender.Meier PS, Holmes J, Brennan A, Angus C. Alcohol policy and gender: a modelling study estimating gender-specific effects of alcohol pricing policies. Addiction 2021 https://doi.org/10.1111/add.15464 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

17 Mars 202116min

Online search behaviour and minimum unit pricing

Online search behaviour and minimum unit pricing

Rob Calder speaks to Professor David Leon about his research into on-line search behaviour as minimum unit pricing of alcohol was introduced in Scotland, and what it told him about how people responded to minimum unit pricing policies.Leon DA, Yom-Tov E, Johnson AM, Petticrew M, Williamson E, Lampos V, Cox I. What on-line searches tell us about public interest and potential impact on behaviour in response to minimum unit pricing of alcohol in Scotland. Addiction 2021 https://doi.org/10.1111/add.15388 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

24 Feb 202115min

Data collection methods with Richard Miech

Data collection methods with Richard Miech

Suzi Gage talks to Professor Richard Miech about his paper exploring the impact of a change in the Monitoring the Future project data collection from pen and paper surveys to digital technology Miech RA, Couper MP, Heeringa SG, Patrick ME. The impact of survey mode on US national estimates of adolescent drug prevalence: results from a randomized controlled study. Addiction https://doi.org/10.1111/add.15249 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

5 Feb 202116min

Populärt inom Vetenskap

p3-dystopia
svd-nyhetsartiklar
dumma-manniskor
allt-du-velat-veta
kapitalet-en-podd-om-ekonomi
det-morka-psyket
ufo-sverige
rss-vetenskapsradion
sexet
dumforklarat
bildningspodden
medicinvetarna
rss-vetenskapsradion-2
rss-i-hjarnan-pa-louise-epstein
paranormalt-med-caroline-giertz
rss-ufobortom-rimligt-tvivel-2
barnpsykologerna
rss-personlighetspodden
rss-spraket
hacka-livet