Avacare subsidiary Barrs Pharmaceuticals has resumed the provision of morphine powder to South African pharmacies after resolving problems in sourcing supplies, it said on Tuesday.
Cape Town-based Barrs Pharmaceuticals is South Africa’s sole importer of bulk morphine hydrochloride, which it repackages into smaller quantities. Pharmacists make the powder into a syrup, which patients use in the public and private healthcare sector.
Avacare and its subsidiaries went into business rescue on December 9, in a move that appears to have caught its customers by surprise. While the company has published a notice on its website that it is in business rescue, the health department, the Independent Community Pharmacy Association (ICPA) and the Association of Palliative Care Practitioners of SA (Palprac) were all unaware of the development until informed by Business Day.
Barrs was unable to supply morphine powder from November 2025 to early January, said ICPA CEO Jackie Maimin.
Morphine syrup is the cornerstone of pain relief for cancer and palliative care patients as it is cheap, works quickly, and is easy to administer to people who cannot swallow tablets, said Palprac clinical lead Margie Venter. The drug is on the health department’s essential drug list.
The shortages hit patients who rely on the public sector hardest, as the state has no readily available alternative, she said. Widespread stock-outs had caused unnecessary suffering, as many patients were left in uncontrolled pain, she said.
Private sector patients had the option of more costly medicines such as oxycodone or fentanyl, funded out of pocket or by their medical scheme, she said.
While the resumption of Barrs’ morphine supplies is welcome, it does not resolve the inherent risk of relying on a single supplier, said Venter, noting that this is not the first time Barrs has been unable to provide stock. There was a nationwide shortage of morphine powder in 2022.
Barrs pharmacist Wynand Erasmus said the company had run into difficulties sourcing morphine powder from overseas suppliers because global demand had risen due to ongoing wars.
However, other members of the African Palliative Care Association have not flagged morphine powder shortages, Venter said. Nor is morphine powder listed on the medicine shortage registries maintained by health authorities in the UK and Australia.
Erasmus said Barrs is aware of the hardship caused by morphine powder shortages, and has consequently procured sufficient stock to cover demand for the next six months.
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