Drugs in Africa- A lot of pain

[Vader]

Drugs in Africa
A lot of pain
Africa needs more morphine

The Economist, Sep 30th 2010 | Nairobi

For the dying, dignity and comfort often means prescribing powerful drugs. The most important is morphine, considered essential by the World Health Organisation (WHO). Since it is derived from opium, it is a controlled drug: governments have to report its usage. The supply is plentiful, but the distribution uneven...

Kenya is ahead of many African countries in palliative care, with its own hospice movement, but only seven of its 250 hospitals have ready access to morphine. Even when it is in stock, the annual supply is limited to some 1,500 patients. Yet 180,000 Kenyans die each year of AIDS and cancer alone. A 75mg daily dose of morphine would make all the difference...

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...

Full Article

 

[mymindisgoo]

yep, opiates are great..

 

[Crankinit]

Well it's nice to see someone say something good about opiates for a change, instead of just bitching about abuse and OD's.

 

[8L4YN3]

I seen a doco on Kenya and their morphine situation. Where they had like people from the hospital bringing out doses of morphine for this dying lady, and it looked crazily diluted, i mean like 2 glasses of liquid in this huge fucking oral syringe that looks like its designed to to dose horses. Totally paranoid of drug abuse... Then the dude went on to say how oral morphine is acceptable because you need to inject the morphine to get the high lol....

Let the people get high and the dying die with dignity i say!

 

[Vader]

Then the dude went on to say how oral morphine is acceptable because you need to inject the morphine to get the high lol....

Reminds me of the claim that methadone is "heroin without the high"...the rush and the high are not identical.

 

[DavisK4high247]

They can orally take morphine and it's ok? But IV morphine is taboo? What a crazy buch of shit..Why not give them oral Methadone,or Oxycodone in high amounts for severe pain,,,if someone is dying then they will not get addicted,and if so they are gonna die anyway ,so I say give them the strongest shit they got..