Improving Access to Opioid Analgesics for Palliative Care in India
Approximately one million people in India experience cancer pain every year.1 As in many developing countries, it is typical that cancer is diagnosed in the late states, when pain is prevalent and often severe.2 Severe pain destroys a person's quality of life and dignity. Severe pain also affects families,, neighbors, and the community: a Painful death leaves an indelible mark, especially in India, where the person with cancer is often cared for in the community and at home.1,3
In 1986, to address the problem of unrelieved pain due to cancer in the world, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced the three-step method for treating cancer pain that relied on the use of drugs such as morphine for severe pain.4 However, in spite of the fact that morphine in manufactured in India, it is not available to most of the patients who need it.