Address to the 58th Session of the Commission of Narcotic Drugs
Joint position of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and of the International Committee of the Red Cross on the placing of ketamine under international control.
The ICRC was informed about a month ago that the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) was considering a proposal made to place ketamine – an essential medicine used for anaesthesia, but which also represents a serious drug abuse problem in several Asian countries – under the most restrictive regime of the 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances. In practice this would equate with a prohibition on the use of ketamine. The ICRC and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies have developed a joint public position on the issue, ahead of the CND session.
In the joint position, the International Federation and the ICRC call upon the CND to ensure that reinforced control of ketamine does not hamper or delay its availability for medical use, including as part of the provision of emergency humanitarian assistance. It explains that ketamine has an undisputable role in humanitarian assistance and in prehospital and disaster medicine. There are no available alternatives to ketamine to provide safe anesthesia in some of the most challenging clinical situations and emergency settings. In resource poor hospital settings, ketamine is the only anesthetic drug that allows even major surgery being performed. Its usability in traumatology makes it the preferred drug in mass casualty situations.
Partly as a result of concerns expressed during the preparatory phase, it was first proposed to place ketamine under the least restrictive regime of the Convention, and then, as the vote was about to take place, to postpone the debate until 2016.
Thus, ketamine will not be restricted for at least another year. If the proposal is reiterated, the International Federation and the ICRC will seek to ensure that the provision and use of ketamine is neither curtailed nor delayed for medical and humanitarian purposes.
