Indians deserve access to pain treatment, says rights body
February 12th, 2010 - 4:05 pm ICT by IANSTiruchirapalli, Feb 12 (IANS) The central government should act urgently to ensure access to pain medications, Human Rights Watch said ahead of a national conference on palliative care here in Tamil Nadu.
Hundreds of thousands of Indian patients with cancer and other conditions experience agonizing pain every year because they do not have access to morphine - an inexpensive, safe, and highly effective pain medication.
Government drug regulations, lack of training for health care workers, and poor integration of care are the core reasons for the lack of access, Human Rights Watch said.
“Each day the government fails to act, more than 2,000 cancer patients in India die in excruciating pain,” said Diederik Lohman, senior health and human rights researcher at Human Rights Watch. “The government should take decisive action to end the unnecessary suffering.”
In an October 2009 report, “Unbearable Pain: India’s Obligation to Ensure Palliative Care,” Human Rights Watch found that many major cancer hospitals in India do not provide patients with morphine though more than 70 percent of their patients are incurable and therefore more likely to require pain treatment and palliative care.
Health centers offering services to people living with HIV similarly do not have morphine or doctors trained to prescribe it.
Severe pain is a common symptom among cancer patients, particularly during the last stages of the disease. More than one million advanced cancer patients in India experience severe pain every year.
In addition, many other patients, including those with HIV, TB or other infections or illness, may face acute or chronic severe pain.
- HRW report says India not doing enough on pain treatment front - Oct 28, 2009
- Need to focus on palliative care, say experts - Jan 21, 2011
- NGO demands parliamentary bill for protection of HIV patients' rights - Apr 30, 2011
- New finding to make morphine a safer, more effective drug - Mar 25, 2011
- Common pain relief drugs promote cancer growth - Nov 19, 2009
- India to continue generic drugs for HIV patients - Jul 06, 2011
- Liver-related problems found among Goa HIV patients: Study - Apr 20, 2011
- Carla Bruni to visit Safdarjung Hospital to see anti-natal, HIV care procedure - Dec 06, 2010
- Pain killers retard recovery from heart attack - Apr 09, 2012
- Indian enterprise to set up $30 mn cancer centre in Ethiopia - Jul 24, 2011
- Discovery could boost morphine's effectiveness - Apr 08, 2012
- Indians beware - smoking can cause arthritis (Oct 12 is World Arthritis Day) - Oct 12, 2011
- Housewives now AIDS' worst victims in Nepal - Dec 01, 2010
- Changing lifestyle toughens India's cancer battle (Feb 4 is World Cancer Day) - Feb 03, 2012
- Harnessing Technology to Empower Women - Jun 10, 2010
Tags: agonizing pain, cancer hospitals, cancer patients, core reasons, decisive action, excruciating pain, government drug, health and human rights, health care workers, hospitals in india, human rights watch, indian patients, living with hiv, offering services, pain medication, pain medications, palliative care, poor integration, severe pain, unbearable pain