Pressuring governments to provide pain relief for all

Pain management experts from 84 countries
have called for an international declaration that reasonable care for acute and
chronic pain is a fundamental human right.

At the first annual International Pain
Summit in Montreal, delegates issued the “Declaration of Montreal”.

“The World Health Organization estimates
that 5 billion people live in countries with low or no access to controlled
medicines and have insufficient access to treatment for moderate to severe
pain,” said Michael Cousins, an Australian organiser. “With this declaration,
it is our goal to ensure that countries have the knowledge and support to
establish laws, policies and systems that will help those in pain receive fully
adequate pain management assistance.”

Canadian bioethicist Margaret
Somerville says that the Declaration could eventually rank among the major
declarations of human rights. ~ MTB Europe, Sept 15

Michael Cook
human rights
pain
palliative care

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Michael Cook

Michael Cook edits BioEdge, a bioethics newsletter, and MercatorNet, an on-line magazine whose focus is human dignity. He writes from Sydney, Australia.

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