A lack of funding has caused the unfortunate closure of the successful methadone programme that was offered by the Bellhaven Harm Reduction Centre in Durban. More than 500 people from Durban’s homeless community have been assisted at the Bellhaven Harm Reduction Centre and this latest development will have a negative impact on them and the city.

The majority of these have been beneficiaries of the methadone programme which has assisted them in dealing with their opioid use disorders. The programme has been running since the start of COVID-19 lockdown, initially in the underground parking lot of the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban. Since 1 June 2022, the programme has been based at the Bellhaven Memorial Building in Greyville, Durban.

Professor Monique Marks, Director of the Urban Futures Centre (UFC) at the Durban University of Technology (DUT), one of the directing organisations of the Bellhaven Harm Reduction Centre, said that “the suspension of the methadone programme is devastating. The methadone programme has provided the only hope for our beneficiaries to normalize their lives. Most are now abstaining from heroin or have radically reduced their use; are on chronic medication for TB and HIV; are reconnected with their families; and are generating their own incomes.”

“Methadone also benefits the city more generally, as beneficiaries are no longer hustling or engaging in petty theft to maintain their drug use. Methadone brings both health and hope to homeless people with a heroin use disorder in Durban. That light will now be dimmed,” says Prof. Marks.

Prof. Marks added that the Bellhaven Harm Reduction Centre requires R90 000 per month to keep the methadone programme on track. She confirmed that the previous funding has been derived from private donors but that has now ceased. She thanked the private donors who had contributed thus far and she would like to appeal to others to now contribute, so that the methadone programme can be reinstated and continued long term.

According to Prof. Marks, the methadone programme is critical because methadone is a chronic medication with many decades of evidence for its efficacy in resolving opioid use disorders. Marks added that “methadone is currently unavailable in the public sector and so non-government entities, such as the Bellhaven Harm Reduction Centre, are the only providers. Its closure will now lead to relapses and to a massive black market of methadone, something she is very concerned about. With the methadone programme suspended due to a lack of funds, the immediate risks are homeless people with no hope for the future; an increase in street level crime; a surge in public health problems; and various dangers associated with the black-market sale of methadone.”

However, despite the suspension of the methadone programme, it is important to note that the Bellhaven Harm Reduction Centre will remain open and continue to provide the following services:

• • A daily meal.
  • A place for homeless people to wash, clean their clothes and to congregate.
  • Psycho-social support.
  • Testing and provision of treatment for HIV, TB and Hepatitis.

If you would like to support the Bellhaven Harm Reduction Centre by donating funds towards the methadone programme, please email moniquem@dut.ac.za or call 0844033934. The Bellhaven Harm Reduction Centre is a registered Non-Profit Organisation (NPO) and all contributors will receive a tax certificate. Furthermore, benefactor’s names will be placed on a plaque in the Centre’s entrance, to acknowledge their support and generous contribution.

The Bellhaven’s FNB banking details are:

Pictured: The Bellhaven Harm Reduction Centre.

Photography: Michael Wilson

Alan Khan