LIFE ASKED DEATH
Developing Palliative Care in Asia - Short Film
More than half of all patients with cancer experience pain. In advanced disease, close to two thirds of patients report pain, about half of whom suffer pain of moderate-to-severe intensity. If cancer pain is not adequately treated, it can have devastating consequences that affect the quality of life of patients and their families. Palliative care improves the lives of patients and their families. Watch ‘Life asked Death’ now and learn how palliative care services can be developed in ALL countries.
Information
This section provides more details on key points in each of these four inter-related areas:
Needs in Asia
The Asian population is huge and so is the scale of suffering. We know how to relieve the suffering, but somehow are doing very little to transform this knowledge into action. As a result, around 11 million Asians a year will die in pain and distress because they lack access to pain medications.
Pain, including beyond cancer pain
Living and dying in pain: It doesn’t have to happen.
Oral morphine is the gold standard essential medication for pain relief according to the WHO. It typically costs several times less than other medications. However, insufficient knowledge, unfounded fears, over-regulation and commercial interests means that this pain medication is not available and accessible to the majority of patients.
What is Palliative Care?
It is an approach, a way of delivering services that cares for the patient as a whole person, addressing the physical, emotional and spiritual needs and practical concerns, of both the patient and the family. Palliative Care aims to improve the quality of life of a patient facing a life-threatening illness and that of his family.
It should be an essential service provided by the government. The World Health Assembly recommends that palliative care should be part of the healthcare package that governments provide for the whole population, and integrated into the healthcare system including as part of universal health coverage.
