By Bunmi Yekini
Geneva, May 23, 2025 — The World Health Organization (WHO) has unveiled a new guideline aimed at improving global access to essential controlled medicines, calling on countries to adopt balanced national policies that ensure safe, equitable, and affordable availability of these life-saving treatments.
The updated guidance was released as a rapid communication and officially presented during a high-level side event at the Seventy-eighth World Health Assembly. The new policy framework is intended to help governments responsibly manage the use of controlled substances, such as opioids, benzodiazepines, amphetamines, and ketamine, for medical and scientific purposes.
Controlled medicines are vital for treating a wide range of health conditions including severe pain, mental health disorders, substance use disorders, and neurological diseases. However, global access remains sharply unequal. According to WHO data, over 80% of the world’s morphine supply is consumed in high-income countries, leaving millions in low- and middle-income nations without adequate pain relief. In 2021 alone, an estimated 5.5 million terminal cancer patients were unable to access needed pain medication.
“This inequity is unacceptable,” said WHO officials. “We must ensure that all people, regardless of where they live, can access the medications they need to live with dignity and manage health conditions effectively.”
The guideline provides a roadmap for WHO Member States to craft national policies that simultaneously safeguard public health and prevent misuse. By promoting rational, evidence-based use of controlled medicines, the WHO hopes to close treatment gaps and reduce unnecessary suffering across the globe.