No one should suffer needlessly from pain in the 21st century. More than 50 years after the world agreed (1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs) to make narcotic pain relievers available to everyone in need of it, there is still an extremely large daunting abyss that has defied all efforts to make pain medicines accessible and more agreeable to society. We must bridge this gap by tranquilizing and finishing off all problems that make this impossible.
Going with the impetus garnered from the convention on Narcotic drugs which supports the distribution and provision of pain relieving medicines to people suffering from pain as a result of injury or terminal sickness, governments of the world must address the problem of fear of persecution experienced by health professionals handling opioids such as morphine and codeine by providing adequate training that will not only empower healthcare workers to have more confidence and protection from prosecution but also increase the number of professionals capable of prescribing pain treatment to end users when the need arises.
Currently, it is not that opioids are not available and sufficient for populations but that these opioids which improve the quality of life by reducing pain are being held behind the chains of myths and superstitions-one of such superstitions is that treating pain with opioids will lead to addiction in patients. This is not only untrue, it is callous to purport such claims when no study has proved that it is indeed true. Experts in pain management have carried out studies that prove otherwise. Armed with such information, the chains of superstition and myth should be shattered to deliver these medicines which are necessary for the overall well-being of individuals while bearing in mind that this stands as a fundamental human right which has been ratified and overstated around the world-Everyone has a right to a state of health that permits them to lead fully productive lives. If we treat the medical handling of narcotic treatment like the war on drugs, where are people supposed to obtain relief from the suffering that illnesses and injury has inflicted upon them?
By developing and strengthening the human rights framework to healthcare access (Health for all), we can together overcome the various challenges that have kept us bound far below our state of reason and civilization on this topic of pain treatment. We can and should make sure that no human remains overshadowed by unnecessary pain due to inaccessibility to treatment which is within arm’s reach. We must comb every corner of our world until no such story remains. Until we do that, we will be remembered as savages who cannot leave the shadow of their schadenfreude behind.
Sources: //www.biomedcentral.com/1741-7015/8/8