Cancer patients suffer due to absence of Morphine

MULTAN: Cancer patients getting treatment from Nishtar Hospital's oncology ward were forced to suffer from pain due to absence of Morphine from the hospital for the last four years, doctors said.

While talking to newsmen on Saturday, President Cancer Society of Pakistan Dr Abrar Ahmad Javed and general secretary Dr Ahmad Ijaz Masud said Morphine was the only pain relief that can comfort the cancer patients and other pain killers often fail to do the job. However, they added, Morphine was supplied only to hospitals under license and their request to renew the license to the health department had so far failed to get attention of high ups.

They said the procedure to issue license should be simplified so that it was made available to cancer patients to provide them relief from pain. He said doctors provide Morphine to cancer patients for pain relief in the form of tablets and added that patients now have to go to other hospitals like Shokat Khanam Cancer Hospital and wait in queue to get doze for ten days. A doctor said Morphine was available at some basic health units in the form of injection and not in tablet form.