Obtaining supplies of appropriate drugs is the biggest challenge faced by the service; these are either unavailable or too expensive. Some pain relieving drugs are sent from an association called Les Amis de Brazzaville, based in France. Small amounts of morphine are sometimes available.

No figures were published by the International Narcotics Control Board³ for the consumption of narcotic drugs in Congo (2002).

For the years 2000-2002, the average defined daily dose consumption of morphine for statistical purposes (S-DDD)⁴ in Republic of the Congo was 0. This compares with other African countries as follows: Swaziland 1; Egypt 2; Uganda 4; Zimbabwe 13; Namibia 73; South Africa 103. Twenty nine countries reported no morphine consumption during 2000-2002 (Table 1).

Table 1 Average daily consumption of defined daily doses (for statistical purposes) of morphine per million inhabitants, 2000-2002: countries of Africa

Source: International Narcotics Control Board Narcotic Drugs: Estimated World Requirements for 2004. Statistics for 2002. New York: United Nations, 2004