On 8 January 2019, VHATTC - University of Medicine and Pharmacy (HCMC) had a visit to NISSI Outreach Church in Tan Dien Hamlet, Long Thuong Commune, Can Giuoc District, Long An Province.
The church was established 4 years ago and have operated as a faith-based treatment site, supporting detoxification for about 120 patients. Among these, approximately 70% people addicted to Methamphetamine, while others have problem with heroine addiction, game. With a total of 20 employees, the church with 5 separate centers mainly focuses on counseling, including: personal counseling, group counseling, family counseling, faith-based detox.
According to Pastor Le Minh Phuong, the need for training is very high due to the lack of access to new evidence-based knowledge such as MAT, HIV testing, screening, assessment, and referral to treatment. With current needs and orientations, VHATTC - UMP will plan to support the Church and optimize faith-based treatment model with specific strengths, promising to contribute a lot to repelling substance abuse and HIV ingeneral.