Most people in sub-Saharan Africa cannot afford costly opioids like oxycodone and fentanyl. To support the terminally ill citizens, a growing number of African countries such as Rwanda, Kenya, and Malawi have begun efforts to produce morphine locally. The joint efforts between governments and non-profit organizations aim at offering free painkiller morphine to critically ill patients and avoid their dependence on costly opioid medicines sold by large companies.
International Narcotics Control Board, (INCB) estimates that 90 percent of opioids are used by people in the world’s richest nations such as United States, Canada, Western Europe and Australia. Moreover, they cost almost six times more in poor and middle income countries than the developed countries. According to experts, this is because small countries with low opioid usage rates are not in a position to negotiate prices with drug companies. At the same time large drug companies are not interested in selling low-cost, generic morphine due to its low profitability. A study by the Lancet Commission on Global Access to Palliative Care and Pain Relief estimated that it would cost just $145 million a year to provide enough morphine to ease end-of-life suffering around the world.
The rise in use and demand of painkillers involved costly opioid products only, resulting in heavy profits for large drug companies. The use of morphine, which is cheaper and one of the most dependable painkillers, remained flat.
one year ago, patients in Rwanda started receiving relief from the locally produced liquid morphine. Like many other painkillers, liquid morphine can be addictive and abused. But the Rwandan government has taken strict precautions. The Government controls the supply and prevents mass marketing efforts aimed at expanding sales. The Rwandan government also ensures that the medicine is administered only to critically ill patients who suffer from pain.
