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Resource centre on India's rural distress
 
 

WHO pans India for morphine curbs -Kounteya Sinha

-The Times of India

 Strong control over morphine — a highly effective painkiller that has left millions of Indians in needless pain — has left India red-faced on the global stage.

Calling use of opioid analgesics like morphine "sub-optimal" in India, the World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday asked India to immediately reassess regulatory requirements on the dispensing of essential medicines like morphine to ensure their wider availability and accessibility besides sensitizing prescribers, dispensers and patients about its use.

A report released by the WHO at the ministers' summit on "Responsible Use of Medicines" in the Netherland on Wednesday, being attended by health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad has also asked India to "reduce redundant paperwork and the administrative burden of prescribing/dispensing particular essential medicines to ensure appropriate patient access".

The global health watchdog has told India that improving medical access to opioid pain relievers will improve treatment of moderate and severe pain and the quality of life for patients in India and in the rest of the world. WHO estimates that 5.5 billion people (83% of the world's population) live in countries with low to non-existent access to controlled medicines and has inadequate access to treatment for moderate to severe pain.

It said 1 million patients with end-stage AIDS, 5.5 million with cancer, 0.8 million with injuries caused by accidents and violence and 110 million women in labour pain suffer each year from inadequate pain treatment.

Interestingly, the report hailed Kerala for simplifying the regulations of opioid procurement and use, saying that this resulted in an increase in the prescribing and use of opioids in the state. It recommended the Kerala model on how simplification of norms can result in minimal misuse.