Pakistan Faces Shortage of Critical Cancer Pain Medicines

Thousands of cancer patients across Pakistan, including children with advanced cancers, are facing severe pain due to a nationwide shortage of essential opioid medicines such as morphine and fentanyl, according to oncologists and hospital pharmacists.

Medical experts say the shortage has disrupted treatment at several major cancer hospitals, forcing doctors to rely on less effective painkillers that cannot adequately manage severe cancer pain.

According to pharmaceutical manufacturers and hospital pharmacists, the crisis has been caused by delays in government approval of annual import quotas for controlled narcotic raw materials, import permits, and other regulatory clearances. They warned that even if approvals are granted immediately, fresh supplies are unlikely to reach hospitals before October or November.

Arif Arain, a senior pharmacist at a Karachi hospital, said the facility has already run out of injectable morphine and fentanyl, while its remaining stock of oral morphine capsules is expected to be exhausted within days.

Morphine and fentanyl are considered the standard treatment for moderate to severe cancer pain and are recommended by the World Health Organization for palliative and end of life care. Specialists say patients with advanced cancers, including metastatic breast cancer, pancreatic cancer, bone tumors, head and neck cancers, and childhood cancers, often depend on these medicines for effective pain relief.

A senior official from the Ministry of National Health Services said the ministry had not been formally informed of a nationwide shortage and added that the matter would be reviewed if such shortages were confirmed.

Via: The News