"Methadone treatment is proving to be the most efficient way to wean people in Bangladesh from addiction to buprenorphine, a pharmaceutical drug, and health experts say it should be expanded to reach thousands more drug users to prevent the spread of HIV," IRIN reports. The news service notes that "illegal use of pharmaceutical substances, mostly buprenorphine, is on the rise" in the country. "Buprenorphine was intended to be used to wean injecting drug users, also known as people who inject drugs (PWID), from narcotics like heroin, but has itself become a substance of addiction, with users injecting a liquid form of it," the news service notes, adding, "Methadone, a pain reliever, suppresses withdrawal symptoms and blocks craving."