INCB Annual Report for 2012

1. The Board, while acknowledging the progress made in drug control, encourages the Government of Mauritius to continue its efforts with regard to the treatment and rehabilitation of drug abusers. With regard to the existing methadone substitution programmes that are being conducted in Mauritius, the Board invites the Government to increase the provision of psychosocial support and to find ways of guiding drug abusers towards reducing their drug intake so that they may eventually stop abusing drugs. The Board notes that in Mauritius the availability of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances for medical purposes remains limited.

139. The Board notes that the issue of accessibility of medicines, including opioids, has been included in the plan of action for the period 2012-2017 of the Ministry of Health of Morocco, with a view to addressing regulatory constraints at the national level. The Board welcomes this measure and encourages the Government to make further progress in improving the availability of licit drugs for medical purposes.

245. In Nepal, health-care practitioners’ efforts to work with government and industry to address the availability of all necessary formulations of opioid analgesics have continued, with support from international experts. The production of sustained-release morphine tablets has been under way since August 2012. The local production of an additional formulation of morphine will ensure a more continuous availability of all essential morphine formulations for patients in Nepal than was possible in the past. These advances in opioid availability have been coupled with ongoing efforts to educate health-care professionals about pain relief and the rational use and safe handling of essential controlled medicines.