Table 1. Comparison of topics covered by the National Methadone Maintenance Treatment Training Centre for the training of methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) providers and their trainers, before and since 2008.

Topic	Before 2008	Since 2008
For MMT providers
An overview of MMT	Yes	Yes
Diagnosis of heroin dependence	Yes	Yes
Treatment of heroin dependence	Yes	Yes
Behavioural and psychological characteristics of people dependent on heroin	Yes	Yes
Overdose prevention	Yes	Yes
Policy support for and administration of MMT programme	Yes	Yes
Pathology of opioid dependence	Yes	Yes
Pharmacology of methadone	Yes	Yes
Key points for MMT education and skills needed	Yes	Yes
Prevention of HIV infection	Yes	Yes
Counselling skills	No	Yes
Motivational interviewing skills	No	Yes
Management of poly-drug abuse	No	Yes
Management of common mental health problems	No	Yes
Reproductive health needs among female patients	No	Yes
Methadone dosage, compliance and retention	No	Yes
Meaning of a positive urine test in an MMT patient	No	Yes
Prevention of hepatitis C virus infection	No	Yes
For trainers of MMT providers
Role and responsibility of substance abuse counsellor	No	Yes
Drug dependence counselling procedure	No	Yes
Substance abuse assessment and counselling	No	Yes
Motivational interviewing	No	Yes
High-risk situation management	No	Yes
Goal-setting	No	Yes
Refusal skills	No	Yes
Coping with craving for drug	No	Yes
Lapse and relapse prevention and therapy	No	Yes
Management of overdose and poisoning	No	Yes
Time, stress and anger management	No	Yes
Conflict resolution	No	Yes
Strengthening familial support	No	Yes
Prevention of HIV and hepatitis C virus infection	No	Yes
Working with young people and with women	No	Yes
Harm reduction	No	Yes
Supervision and support	No	Yes
Burnout prevention	No	Yes

HIV, human immunodeficiency virus.