U.N. promotes study of addiction cure in Vietnam HANOI, The Reuters World Service : The United Nations said on Wednesday it would contribute $500,000 to a project in Vietnam which will study the effectiveness of a herbal medicine for drug addiction. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) said the medication known as HEANTOS had been applied effectively as a therapy in Vietnam, where there are an estimated 185,000 addicts. But its claims still needed to be reviewed, verified and substantiated in compliance with international standards before its use on a wider scale and outside Vietnam could be authorised. ``Further research on HEANTOS is critical as drug abuse is one of the most pervasive social problems facing countries throughout the world,'' UNDP Deputy Resident Representative in Hanoi Nicholas Rosellini said in a statement. The project, which will be carried out with the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and the National Institute of Drug Abuse in the United States, was launched as a major herointrafficking trial entered its final day in Hanoi. The UNDP said that since 1991 more than 3,000 Vietnamese patients mainly opium and heroin addicts had been treated successfully with HEANTOS for withdrawal symptoms. HEANTOS, which is composed of various plants and other ingredients found in Vietnam, could bring cost reductions in treating addicts all over the world. [Copyright 1997, Reuters]