Cancer patients across the country are finding it very difficult to access pain management drugs due to the highly rigid Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act and differing narcotic rules from state to state, it is learnt.

According to sources, there are 30 to 40 lakh cancer patients in India. In Andhra Pradesh alone there are over 2.55 lakh cancer patients and the rigid rules restrict the accessibility of narcotic drugs. Only one per cent of the cancer patients in the country have access to those drugs. Out of the 45000 to 55000 pharmacy shops in Andhra Pradesh, only 140-150 have licenses under the NDPS Act to sell pain management drugs.

Sources stated that there are no uniform guidelines and it differs from state to state. While district collector is the empowered authority in Tamil Nadu to issue transport permit for narcotic drugs, excise department has the authority in Karnataka and in Kerala it is drugs control administration and excise department.

Absence of uniformity in regulations forces medical institutions and doctors  to apply for various licenses to obtain the drugs. Sources added that morphine and pethidine, two common opioid drugs, are very effective in pain management during the late stage of cancer. However, patients don’t have easy accessibility to such drugs. There are 15 to 20 manufacturers of NDPS drugs and some are manufacturing injectables and a few are making both injectables and tablets.

Commenting on the issue, Ravi Uday Bhaskar, secretary general, All India Drugs Control Officers Confederation, said, “People suffering from cancer should have an easy access to the pain management drugs. There should be uniform licensing regulations across the country.” He also emphasized the need to simplify the transport permit.

The license period of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances is one year and it takes three months on an average to get the  license from the drugs control administration and another one month for getting the transport permit.

It is learnt that the Andhra Pradesh Drugs Control Administration (APDCA) recently constituted a committee to simplify the procedures for transport permit.