Access to Medications for Pain Treatment and Palliative Care
Received: 01-Nov-2021 / Accepted Date: 15-Nov-2021 / Published Date: 22-Nov-2021 DOI: 10.4172/2165-7386.1000441
Abstract
Adults and children with life-limiting diseases, such as cancer, benefit from palliative care, which is a patient-centered approach that enhances their quality of life. It addresses their physical, psychological, social and economic, legal, and spiritual problems from the time of diagnosis throughout their lives; and access to the medicine needed to treat moderate to severe, particularly opioid analgesics, is one of the major practical barriers to providing quality palliative care worldwide. Despite the various obstacles, projects all across the world are increasing access to palliative care treatments, including pain management.
Keywords: cancer, quality of life, opioid analgesics, pain management
Introduction
There have been a number of factors found that impact the availability and accessibility of pain therapy for persons with lifelimiting diseases. These are some of them:
Regulations and limitations that are excessive: One of the greatest hurdles to the availability of pain therapy across the world is the issue of too severe regulatory laws and limitations [1]. It is widely recognized that governments must strike a balance in their national policy on controlled substances to guarantee that individuals who require medical care, including pain management, have access to the pharmaceuticals they require while also addressing concerns of abuse and diversion. The regulatory hurdles included the necessity for a permit (or registration) to receive prescription opioids, the requirement for a physician to have a special permit, the requirement for redundancy or triplicate prescriptions, prescription and daily dose limits, restrictions on where drugs can be delivered, and insufficient provisions for opioid prescribing in emergency situations. All of these regulations erect barriers to people receiving the high-quality clinical treatment they require [2].
Health-care professional education and training: The safe and efficient use of opioid analgesics in the management of pain necessitates health professional education and training. Palliative care should be a necessary component of undergraduate and postgraduate medical and nursing students' and pharmacists' curriculum, according to research [3]. Health professionals may not prescribe due to fear or a lack of information about the treatments' advantages if they do not receive enough education and training. This has led in morphine inventories on hospital and drugstore shelves becoming out of date, while people under care continue to be in agony and suffering.
Palliative care guidelines are lacking: Numerous legislation, resolutions, and guidelines at the international level emphasize the importance of having access to pain drugs. Palliative care policies, as well as the integration of palliative care into current HIV, health, and cancer policies, are critical for the growth of palliative care services and analgesic availability [4,5].
Conclusion
Around the world, a lack of access to palliative care and pain medication continues to cause discomfort and suffering. Existing legislation and patterns of practice, on the other hand, demonstrate that palliative care may be offered to individuals who need it at a low cost, greatly enhancing care standards and quality of life for people with life-limiting illnesses. To expand access to palliative care services worldwide, including pharmaceuticals for the treatment of mild to moderate pain, there must be a considerable focus, dedication, and investment.
References
- Temel et al (2010). ‘Early Palliative Care for Patients with Metastatic Non–Small-Cell Lung Cancer ‘in N Engl J Med 363:733-742
- Harding R, Powell T (2007) Pain relieving drugs in 12 African PEPFAR countries.
Citation: Roy A (2021) Access to Medications for Pain Treatment and PalliativeCare. J Palliat Care Med 11:441. DOI: 10.4172/2165-7386.1000441
Copyright: © 2021 Roy A. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author andsource are credited.
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