THE ECONOMIST
The International Narcotics Control Board, a UN body that oversees controlled drugs, says 90% of the world’s morphine is administered in rich countries. By contrast, morphine and other painkillers such as pethidine and dihydrocodeine are hard to find in state systems in poor countries. So Africans with AIDS, cancer, sickle-cell disease, victims of car crashes, gunshot and machete wounds, and women in labour, suffer severe pain without relief.
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Sadly, many Africans do not know that severe pain can be relieved. Among African medics a stigma attaches to morphine, which is considered addictive and likely to lead to indolence. Doctors and parents are especially loth to prescribe morphine to children, arguing that it amounts to giving up on them. Furthermore, the law in many African countries is poorly written, leaving hospitals liable for misplaced controlled drugs, a big concern when so many drugs are pilfered and are then flogged on the black market.
The Economist for more
(Thanks to reader)