KENYA: Morphine's role in palliative care

NAIROBI, 14 April 2008 (IRIN) - "The amputation was not done professionally, forcing me to undergo more surgery later," Ndirangu said. "I had the latest corrective operation in September 2007."

Now on morphine treatment, Ndirangu, a Christian preacher in Kiserian town, south of Nairobi, said he has been able to eat and sleep more easily as his wounds heal. "I was using expensive drugs to help in healing the wound but the pain was unbearable," he said.

Like Ndirangu, many Kenyan patients in severe pain use palliatives such as morphine, even though the drug is restricted.

"We start the patients on morphine depending on the degree of pain they are experiencing," said John Weru, a senior medical officer at the Nairobi Hospice. "Often, before the patients are referred to us for symptom control and supportive care, they are on weaker drugs."

Morphine, a narcotic proscribed in many countries, falls under a broad class of drugs whose importation is restricted.

At the Pharmacy and Poisons Board, strict regulations require companies that are registered to import it to submit quarterly, mid-year and annual returns to ensure accountability, according to Wilfred Ochieng, deputy registrar with the board.

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