A push for balanced drug policy is transforming pain relief in india

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A push for balanced drug policy is transforming pain relief in india

1 April 2016
Open Society Foundations (OSF)

By Naomi Burke-Shyne

How do you care for a patient in pain? It’s a deceptively complicated question—one that garners vastly different responses depending on where you are in the world. In some places, pain is poorly understood, and medicines to relieve pain are unavailable or stigmatized.

Dr. M.R. Rajagopal is the founder and chairman of Pallium India, a palliative care organization emphasizing compassionate care and working to ensure patients are offered adequate treatment for their pain. Dr. Rajagopal has dedicated decades to ensuring quality of life for his patients and is a committed advocate for better access to controlled medicines—particularly morphine, an affordable and effective, yet highly stigmatized, treatment.

In 80 percent of the world, political, regulatory, and social barriers—often related to the UN’s International Drug Control Conventions—mean that patients do not receive medication for pain relief. “This is a global issue,” Dr. Rajagopal says. “It really hurts in developing countries.”

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Thumbnail: Flickr Fabio Hofnik