Epidemiology of prescription opioid use in Iran

Dr Jaleh Gholami presented at the NDARC Webinar Series on Thursday, 9 March 2023.

Iran, located in the Middle East, has a high rate of opioid consumption and different patterns of drug use. In this webinar, we will present the epidemiology and trends of methadone, buprenorphine, and tramadol use in Iran, as well as the negative health impacts of prescription opioid use, such as toxicity and mortality. This presentation was based on three published systematic reviews and discussed the significance and implications of its findings.

About the speaker

Jaleh Gholami is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre (NDARC), Faculty of Medicine, UNSW. She is a medical doctor and received her PhD in Epidemiology and Master of Public Health at Tehran University of Medical Sciences. Her experience includes working at the Iranian National Centre for Addiction Studies. Her research interests focus on the epidemiology and trends of drug and alcohol use, as well as the incidence of major consequences of drug use. She is passionate about the effectiveness of various substance use treatment options, especially opioid substitution treatment.