COMMMENT - Of course opium poppies are very easy to grow, easier than cannabis. Most of the world's legal opium crop is not grown in Afghanistan, but in Tasmania.
Morphine shortage looms
Saturday, 19 May 2012 19:12
Abel Dzobo
A massive shortage of morphine, a major painkiller mainly used by accident victims and chronically ill patients, is looming after local pharmaceutical company Caps Holdings stopped manufacturing the drug owing to crippling viability problems.
Caps Holdings was the sole firm licensed by Government to manufacture the drug.
Accident victims and patients suffering from specific cancers and HIV-related ailments are among those who rely on the painkiller.
Ministry of Health and Child Welfare non-communicable diseases (NCDs) department deputy director Mrs Clemenciana Bakasa said the situation should be addressed expeditiously to save lives.
“The shortage of morphine should be quickly rectified. It will lead to the rapid deterioration of the quality of life for people in life-threatening situations,” she said.
“We want morphine available countrywide, even at district hospitals.
“And we would want nurses trained such that they, too, can prescribe cancer drugs. At the moment, only doctors are allowed to do so, but the doctors in rural areas are not enough.”
Dr Dickson Chifamba, the director of the palliative care organisation Island Hospice, said progressive strategies were required as the country could not import the drug.
He said authorities should consider supporting Caps Holdings or licensing an alternative firm.
“Caps manufactured and processed morphine into tablets which doctors could prescribe to patients,” he said.
“Now the organisation is facing challenges and a shortage looms. Morphine is a controlled drug that we cannot import. There is no alternative.
“Unlike in the case of typhoid or cholera outbreaks, lack of morphine is a silent problem. Sick people might die in their homes without anyone knowing.”
Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals consultant clinical oncologist Dr Anna Nyakabau also expressed the same concerns.
Cancer Centre knowledge manager Mr Tafadzwa Chigariro said: “Morphine supply has always been erratic in Zimbabwe. It is a drug that should always be available.”
Caps Holdings is facing serious viability problems. Last week some of the firm’s property was auctioned to settle a US$4 million debt owed to CBZ Bank Limited.
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