Global state of pain treatment

"Every year, tens of millions of people around the world suffer severe pain and other debilitating symptoms caused by illnesses like cancer and HIV/AIDS. Human Rights Watch interviews in several countries have documented suffering so intense that patients would often rather die than live with their pain. Almost all this suffering is unnecessary because pain medicines are safe, cheap, and effective and low-cost palliative care services could address severely ill patients' physical, psychological, and social needs. Yet in most countries availability of strong pain medicines is almost nonexistent and palliative care is a neglected health service. This violates the right to the highest attainable standard of health. This report uses publicly available data on the consumption of pain medicines to illustrate the enormous extent of unmet need for pain treatment. It also presents the results of a survey of healthcare workers in 40 countries regarding the main barriers to better pain treatment and palliative care. Global State of Pain Treatment calls upon governments to assess the need for pain treatment and palliative care in their own countries and to systematically identify and address b