FG Imports Morphine, Pain Killer

The Federal Government has ordered for a consignment of Morphine, a pain killer, following the high number of people dying of pains.

The government last imported the drug in 2010.

An estimated 177,000 patients are said to need the strong pain killers to stay alive.

According to the Director, Global Access to Pain Relief Initiative (GAPRI), Dr. Meg O’Brien, the Federal Ministry of Health is collaborating with the body to make essential pain medicines available in Nigeria. The government, she added, last week initiated an emergency procurement of morphine powder to be dispensed in the country.

She said the ministry signed the agreement with GAPRI to provide for the implementation of strategic interventions for the government.

The funding for the project, she said, was provided by Foundation Philanthropic, saying “GAPRI will provide technical support to assist with the procurement of morphine, its distribution, and scale-up of pain treatment services. We are hopeful that this important step forward by Nigeria, which is home to one in five Africans, signals the coming of a new era in government responses to the crisis of untreated pain.”

She said GAPRI is a point programme of the American Cancer Society and the Union for Intemational Cancer Control (UIIC) to make access to essential pain medicines universal by 2020. “GAPRI is working with the Federal Government and local non-governmental organisations in Uganda and Kenya to improve the supply of these medicines and support strategic advocacy efforts for this important global health issue”, she added.

Health Minister, Prof Onyebuchi Chukwu, said, “After extensive internal consultation, the ministry is pleased to announce new steps to make essential pain medicines available to Nigerians who need them.”

According to him, the National Cancer Control Programme of the Federal Ministry of Health has been leading national consultations on pain relief, including workshops on morphine production and control during the last two annual international Cancer Week conferences.

He said the civil society has added to the discussions, with support from the Cente for Palliative Care, Nigeria, the Hospice and Palliative Care Association of Nigeria, the African Palliative Care Association and Hospice Africa Uganda. The output of these consultations was a comprehensive set of recommendations to move country, Chukwu added.

He said the availability of these essential medicines had been limited in recent years. But the Federal Ministry of Health, in collaboration with National Agency  for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), was making a bold plan of action to reverse the situation.

He said the Food and Drug Services Department of the ministry has initiated an emergency procurement of 25 kg of morphine powder to be dispensed to health facilities from the Central Medical Stores.

This, he said, will be carried out with technical support from the GAPRI and financial support from Foundation Philanthropia, saying “the Ministry of Health is adding a full-time consultant to the Food and Drug Services Department to assist the director in making these drugs available to patients who need them while preventing their misuse.

“The Ministry of Health is also undertaking three-year collaboration with the Global Access to Pain Relief Initiative to assist the government with improving the supply of these medicines and their availability for patients.”