Untreated pain in the lower and middle-income countries

More than 5.5 billion people (83% of the world’s population) in over 150 countries have low to non-existent access to morphine and other controlled medicines for pain relief, palliative care or opioid dependency.

Although access to morphine has increased exponentially over the last two decades, global inequalities in access to pain relief are stark. Ninety per cent of the global consumption of morphine, fentanyl and oxycodone registered in 2009 occurred in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United States and several European countries (See Map below). All these medicines are ‘scheduled’ and controlled under the UN 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs. Widespread lack of access in lower and middle-income countries (LMICs), however, underlines the serious limitations of the current regulatory regime.

Keep up-to-date with drug policy developments by subscribing to the IDPC Monthly Alert.