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Painkiller Is Denied to Poor

Morphine is cheap and available, but it's withheld because of 'opoid phobia'

By Lucas Laursen, Newser Staff

Posted Sep 10, 2007 10:08 AM CDT

(Newser) – Though morphine is cheap, effective, and widely available, most people sufferering extreme pain don't get it, the New York Times reports. The poorest 80% of the world’s population consumes only 6% of the pain-killer. Why? Because health care workers in poor countries are afraid to prescribe morphine, or not allowed to. "Opiod phobia" is what one hospice chief in Sierra Leone calls it.

Much of Africa still adheres to outdated Western medical theory, according to the Times, in which fear of addiction outweighs the importance of palliative care. That's exacerbated, in many countries, by recent civil wars that have left large numbers of addicted child soldiers roaming the streets. “I wouldn’t want to leave my staff in charge of morphine,” one doctor told the Times. “The potential for abuse is so high.”

Six first-world nations consume nearly 80% of the world's morphine, leaving the ill and injured of poorer nations in agony. (Shutterstock.com)

In some nations, a ban on powerful painkillers leaves many suffering. (Shutterstock.com)

(FILES) File picture of a a HIV infected woman lying on a bed... (Getty Images)

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Painkiller Is Denied to Poor

Morphine is cheap and available, but it's withheld because of 'opoid phobia'

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health care • Africa • health • drugs • poverty • drug abuse • morphine • opoid phobia

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10 years after 'Nickel and Dimed,' author Ehrenreich says things are even worse

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Addicts are struggling to get clean

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Fallout from changes in weather patterns threatens hard-won gains

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Adam Goldstein's apartment littered with drugs; he promised to start rehab

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Painkiller Is Denied to Poor

Morphine is cheap and available, but it's withheld because of 'opoid phobia'

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OTHER STORIES ON OUR RADAR

health care • Africa • health • drugs • poverty • drug abuse • morphine • opoid phobia

MOST POPULAR STORIES

[ By Views ]

[ By Comments ]

More Newser Stories

We've Made It a Crime to Be Poor

10 years after 'Nickel and Dimed,' author Ehrenreich says things are even worse

What We Can Learn from Mauritius

How a tiny African nation provides education, health care for all

Bath Salts: More Perilous Than Meth?

Addicts are struggling to get clean

To Battle Climate Change, Look Toward Africa

Fallout from changes in weather patterns threatens hard-won gains

DJ AM Spent Last Day on Crack, Pills

Adam Goldstein's apartment littered with drugs; he promised to start rehab

About Us

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Newser By Users

Community

Site Maps

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More News

What is Newser?