Millions suffer from pain due to lack of morphine distribution, WHO finds

The World Health Organization (WHO) said in a new report that morphine is not distributed equally around the world, leaving millions of people to suffer from pain.

“Leaving people in pain when effective medicines are available for pain management, especially in the context of end-of-life care, should be a cause of serious concern for policy-makers,” said Yukiko Nakatani, WHO assistant director general for medicines and health products, in a statement last month.

The report found that more than 80 percent of morphine available worldwide was distributed in the Americas, mostly in North America. The median estimated defined daily dose (DDD) of morphine for high-income countries was 125.9 DDD per million people per day, while it was 24.9 for upper-middle-income countries, 6.7 for lower-middle-income nations and 2.0 DDD in low-income countries.

Nakatani wrote in the report's forward that opioid abuse and the lack of opioid access are becoming crises around the world. She wrote that "a lack of access to opioids such as morphine in many parts of the world means that millions of people continue to suffer preventable pain."

The report found that 50 percent of those from low-income countries and 18 percent of those in lower-middle-income countries said that at least 8 in 10 people did not receive morphine despite showing medical need.

The authors wrote the disparity exists for several reasons, including the availability of the drug, the stigma around morphine and restrictive legislative policies relating to opioid use. The authors also warned of the dangers of drugs like morphine, which is an opioid, but said those concerns should not “undermine the benefits of opioid use when clinically indicated and when used safely by trained professionals.”

The authors also outlined a series of actions countries could take to mitigate the disparity in morphine, including making the drug more affordable, expanding access to the drug and establishing distribution centers.