UN concerned that access to opioids virtually nonexistant in 150 countries

Coolio

Coolio

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http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/djf500/200902190515DOWJONESDJONLINE000525_FORTUNE5.htm

LONDON -(Dow Jones)- Pharmaceutical companies should consider cutting the price of powerful painkillers like morphine to make them more affordable for poor nations, the International Narcotics Control Board said Thursday.

Pain relief is big business for companies like Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), Boehringer Ingelheim GmBH, GlaxoSmithKline PLC (GSK.LN) and Johnson Matthey PLC's (JMAT.LN) subsidiary Mcfarlan Smith, but the INCB said access to opioid analgesics like codeine and morphine is virtually nonexistent in more than 150 countries.

Professor Hamid Ghodse, president of the Vienna-based body, which is charged with monitoring countries' compliance with United Nations drug control conventions, said governments should approach pharmaceutical companies about cutting their prices to boost access.

Drug makers "could be helpful if the price comes down," Ghodse told reporters earlier this week ahead of the publication of the INCB's annual report Thursday.

However, the INCB said cost wasn't the main reason why almost 90% of the world's opioid painkillers are consumed by patients in Europe and North America but hardly used at all in the world's poorest nations. The INCB found a reluctance to prescribe the drugs because of addiction worries was the biggest obstacle, and said better education for doctors and nurses about the use of opioids is needed.

In its 2009 report, published Thursday to mark the centenary of the 1909 International Opium Commission meeting in Shanghai that ushered in the era of international drug control, the INCB added the rise of Internet pharmacies dispensing powerful controlled drugs without a prescription is alarming. Such Web sites promote drug abuse among vulnerable groups, especially young people, it said.

Professor Ghodse added the INCB is also worried what effect the global economic downturn might have on drug use worldwide. He said there are two schools of thought: that consumption will decrease because casual users will have less money to spend, or that it will rise because people turn to drugs in desperation after losing their jobs or homes.

"We'd rather see the former than the latter," Ghodse said.

Company Web site: www.incb.org
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(The INCB is basically a part of the UN)
 
This story seems to get published at least once a year. Kinda like homeless stories get published during the winter; you don't hear much about it any other time.


Not surprising though. I'd imagine that in the majority of those countries, the citizens don't even have access to enough potable water, let alone opiates. :\
 
FrostyMcFailure said:
In reality its probably more like not "legally accessible".
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Money becomes an issue here. The countries with 'virtually nonexistant access' are probably 150 of the poorest countries, and most of the citizens can't afford black market opioids.

The issue they're really discussing is that patients don't have access to opioids in these countries' medical practices.
 
phrozen said:
This story seems to get published at least once a year. Kinda like homeless stories get published during the winter; you don't hear much about it any other time.


Not surprising though. I'd imagine that in the majority of those countries, the citizens don't even have access to enough potable water, let alone opiates. :\
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Another factor is that while opiates might be available doctors don't recommend them and your average person just listens to their doctor.

In my wife's country of birth codeine and paregoric are OTC and cheap, yet almost no one there uses it. My wife was not even aware she could buy codeine or paregoric, doctors and pharmacists recommend ibuprofen for all pain no matter how severe. I was the only one buying codeine syrup and paregoric in most pharmacies, local druggies have no interest because its legal.
 
People just aren't told about the existence and potential uses for real opioid painkillers.

Nobody has to suffer from physical pain, but the medical field, education system, law enforcement, and regulatory agencies have no problem enacting policy that leads to mass suffering.
 
^
I don't know about the "medical field" variable. Maybe the pharmaceutical field... I'd imagine that if dr's weren't under watch by various gov't agencies, they'd be more liberal with their opiate prescriptions. Hell, at least some of them must realize that the worst negative side effects of opiates are mostly created by prohibition.
 
Whether or not they're under watch, they still choose to keep quiet and scared about it instead of prescribing them as truly needed. Or they themselves have been educated wrong, and told that opioids are only medically useful for surgery and extreme pain. Doctors, as the first line of decision making here, as well as the first line of education about pain and painkillers for most of their patients, are definitely partially responsible.
 
Fair enough. I doubt that the gov't watch is the only thing at play, as far as doctors prescribing them go. But I still stand by my statement that they'd be more prescribed if the drug warriors stayed out of the dr's script pad. I know I'd think twice about giving them out of I had to register with the DEA, put my dea# on the script, and fill out various other bullshit just to give out oxy/apap.
 
&& Theyd be smoking the reefer!(the wacky Tobaccy). Pharmaceuticals lose like 1/3 their customers off the bat if/when cannabis becomes legal.
 
Prices are high because big pharma has monopolized the drug market thanks to prohibition. Legalize all drugs, including heroin, and prices will fall dramatically. Adults don't need a nanny government to make personal decisions for us.
 
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