Improving Access to Palliative Care During the Global Pain Crisis

March 19, 2018

Globally, over 5.5 billion people—75 percent of the world’s population—have limited or no access to adequate pain relief. Palliative care is a constellation of medical, social, and legal services aimed at reducing health-related suffering and pain caused by life-limiting or life-threatening health conditions. Pain relief is a core component of palliative care, but the availability of essential medicines like morphine is limited by persistent myths, restrictive regulations, insufficient training of health professionals, and failure of supply and distribution systems.

A new report from the Lancet Commission on Palliative Care and Pain Relief details an essential package of palliative care services to help bridge this gap. Lancet commissioners and international palliative care experts Dr. Liliana de Lima and Dr. M.R. Rajagopal recently came together for a discussion on the global pain crisis, the significance of the upcoming Lancet report, and what the world can learn from palliative care programs and advocates in India and Latin America.

Watch the event above, or listen to audio below.

The Global Pain Crisis: Narrowing the Gap in Access to Palliative Care (March 12, 2018)

Topics

Access to Medicines, Drug Policy Reform, Harm Reduction, Law and Health, Palliative Care

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