We read with interest the article by Hall et al. on shortages of anesthetic drugs in Canada. We work in a large referral hospital in Zimbabwe and also face drug shortages in our anesthesia and critical care practice. The problem of drug shortages is global; however, our situation has not received as much scrutiny as is the case in Canada and North America.In Sub-Saharan Africa, our anesthetic and related drug shortages are similar to those in Canada and include a range of drugs, e.g., propofol, muscle relaxants, opioid and non-opioid analgesics, inotropes, local anesthetics, and benzodiazepines. In a study of anesthesia resources in Uganda (Sub-Sahara), Hodges et al. reported severe anesthetic drug shortages. Except for ketamine, most of the drugs were not easily available; in addition, only 54% of the anesthetists had pethidine or morphine available on a continuous basis. In the same study, 30% of the anesthetists stated that they never had local anesthetic solution for a subarachnoid block in their hospitals, while 28% revealed that they only sometimes had the solution. In a recent study by Baelani et al.
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