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Daisy Jeremani Gender Editor
A NATIONWIDE shortage of morphine is causing pain to both patients and emergency health workers.
Morphine, a narcotic pain reliever used to treat moderate to severe pain, is basic medicine on the operating table, especially for accident victims.The Chronicle has established that Mpilo Central Hospital has been operating without morphine for the past two months.

Dozens of other hospitals in the country are said to be affected, with most major pharmacies in Bulawayo also apparently out of stock.

Shockingly, it is understood that drug distributor, NatPharm, has morphine in stock, but it will expire in 34 days.

The pending expiration of morphine at NatPharm and the scarcity of intravenous fluids will be on the agenda of the central level pharmaceutical second quarter meeting to be held at the Peacock Hotel in Mutare from today until Friday. Intravenous fluids are popularly referred to as drips in the country.

A senior doctor said: “Almost the whole country is using the same batch of morphine we received last year and this will be expiring at the end of June and I think the government will be doing something about this.”

Cancer and other patients with chronic illnesses at Mpilo have been either referred to the United Bulawayo Hospitals (UBH), which still has a supply, or to private medical facilities. Most pharmacies also do not have the drug in stock.

The problem has been exacerbated by the fact that Caps Holdings, the only local pharmaceutical drugs manufacturer which has the licence to manufacture morphine tablets, has ceased producing them.

This has had an adverse effect on private pharmacies which used to get the oral drug from there.

Mpilo clinical director Dr Solwayo Ngwenya said the morphine crisis was not synonymous with their institution, but was a countrywide problem.

“It’s not unique that Mpilo has run out of this drug. Like all sectors of the economy, the’re challenges. It’s not easy, it’s very very hard, extremely hard, but for us at Mpilo to survive all this and get to go home after an operation is miraculous,” he said.

Asked why they were not procuring morphine from NatPharm, Dr Ngwenya said all narcotic drugs are controlled and there were strict procedures and guidelines to be followed.

He said he was not aware what was the hold-up, adding that he knew eventually the drug would be brought to Mpilo. In the meantime, he said, they were using other drugs like pethedine for patients in need of pain relief.

The country has a quite a reasonable amount of pethedine which is one of the first line drugs in pain management, but is highly addictive and like all narcotics it tends to give patients a “high.”

A Bulawayo oncologist, who requested anonymity, said cancer patients and others with chronic diseases who are on home-based care have their quality of life greatly compromised.

The doctor said the patients are going through unbearable pain.

“Can you imagine constant pain that is not controlled by anything all? The painkillers on the market don’t have the capacity to control the pain,” she said.

“Morphine is a strong painkiller and unlike pethidine, it doesn’t give patients that happy feeling that people like, but it works effectively.”

Health Minister David Parirenyatwa asked to be given 20 minutes to check on the morphine shortage, but his phone rang unanswered at the appointed time.