NAIROBI:African hospitals face huge new costs as they scramble to replace the main anaesthetic for child operations that is set to run out in 2027, a charity has warned.
Halothane is still widely used across sub-Saharan Africa to put children to sleep for operations, primarily because it can be seven to 10 times cheaper than the newer alternative, sevoflurane.
But the last halothane manufacturer shut down its production line in India in 2023, and stocks are rapidly running out across Africa.
“We don’t know exactly when, but I don’t think we will have any halothane left by the end of 2027,” said Elizabeth Igaga, an anaesthesiologist in Uganda.
Igaga is senior director for program safety at Smile Train, a charity that carries out more than 100,000 surgeries each year for cleft lips and palates, 90 percent of them for children.
