The Covid-19 pandemic means that the running down of US Strategic Stockpile of medicines could not have come at a worse time

As pain relievers, opioids are a vital part of treating patients with Covid-19. But, as Katherine Pettus writes, the combination of reductions by the US of its buffer stock of opioids, and the chronically low stocks in 80 percent of the world, mean that patients are now abandoned in their hour of need. She urges governments to listen to guidance from UN agencies which calls for access to controlled medicines for the patients who need them.