Severe pain, such as terminal cancer pain, can often be relieved with inexpensive, easily produced morphine and other opioids. Unfortunately, most people live in countries where morphine is not readily available, as documented in a major Lancet Commission report, even though morphine is on the WHO’s Essential Medicines list.
The main causes are governments’ unfounded fears of dependence and of diversion to the black market. This is now also an issue affecting the US as a result of the authorities’ drastic response to the opioid crisis.
Access to morphine was one of the first cause areas where OPIS launched a concrete initiative. On 14 March 2018 we held an expert panel event at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, in partnership with International Doctors for Healthier Drug Policies, advocating for access to morphine.
From that event:
- Our summary guide for education and advocacy “Ending the Agony: Access to Morphine as an Ethical and Human Rights Imperative” in English, French, Spanish and Portuguese
- The press release in English, French and Spanish
- A 4-minute video montage with highlights and key messages from the event
- Also, the OPIS-IDHDP contribution to OHCHR report on implementation of UNGASS joint commitment re: world drug problem and human rights, May 2018
Following that event, we embarked on a successful collaboration with the palliative care association of Burkina Faso in West Africa, leading to a national conference with the Ministry of Health in December 2019, and the establishment of palliative care with access to morphine as part of the country’s national health program. In 2023, local production of liquid morphine began.
Some additional links of interest:
- “How a local champion can bring the government on board“, an article we wrote for the bulletin of Swiss health network Medicus Mundi, based on our experience in Burkina Faso. Prof. Felicia Knaul, Chair of the Lancet Commission on Global Access to Palliative Care and Pain Control, called this article an “important read on how to close the global pain divide at the national level.”
- “The other opioid crisis” – an article in New Humanist magazine citing OPIS’s work. “While all the attention is on western drug misuse, 80 per cent of the world’s population goes without sufficient pain relief treatment.”
- “Why access to morphine is a human right” by Jonathan Leighton, Executive Director of OPIS
- “Problèmes d’accès aux antidouleurs à base de morphine, considérés comme des drogues”: a reportage in French on Swiss public radio (21 March 2019) on the problem of access to morphine, including an interview with Jonathan Leighton that took place during the 62nd session of the UN’s Commission on Narcotic Drugs in Vienna