Ministry won’t relax rules on use of morphine

Star: MIRI: The strict procedures of administering morphine on cancer sufferers living outside hospitals cannot be relaxed or made more flexible.
The Health Ministry said the use of morphine must be regulated stringently because it is a drug and the ministry cannot compromise on this even though there have been appeals for easier access for sufferers living in far away places.
Ministry parliamentary secretary Datuk Lee Kah Choon said this when asked to comment on calls by palliative care volunteers – who are caring for cancer sufferers living away from hospitals – to be allowed to stock morphine and administer them to sufferers who are in urgent need.
“Morphine can only be administered by a qualified doctor. The drug is kept in the hospital and if there is a need for the drug to be administered to a cancer sufferer (living at home), the doctor must go there and administer the drug.
“If a city or town has a hospice and wants to keep stock of morphine, it must obtain permission from the ministry.
“We allow hospices to keep stocks but only qualified doctors are allowed to administer it. We have to be very strict in this matter.
“Not everyone can have access to the drug,” said Lee, when interviewed here at the end of his four-day visit on Thursday.
“In places like Miri where there is no hospice, we cannot allow morphine to be stocked outside of the hospital,” he said.
In Sarawak, many cancer sufferers live in villages far from hospitals. Hospice Malaysia has established a branch in Kuching and is in the process of setting up a proper centre here.
However, there are still regions in the state where such post-hospitalisation care is practically non-existence.
There is, in Miri, a group of volunteers providing homecare for cancer sufferers, especially those who are poor or living alone.
Lee praised the palliative care volunteers for trying to make life better for the patients, adding that post-hospital care is a crucial element in community healthcare programmes.
On another issue, he urged non-governmental bodies to help organise organ donation campaigns in more districts.
“Organ donation campaigns should be given similar importance as blood donation campaigns.
“Organ donation is as important because replacement organs are needed all the time now,” he noted.