Palliative Care and Pain Treatment in the Global Health Agenda

The Global Atlas of Palliative Care at the End of Life, published by the Worldwide Palliative Care Alliance (WPCA) jointly with the World Health Organization (WHO) estimated that every year >20 million patients need palliative care (PC) at the end of life. Six percent of these are children. According to the Atlas, in 2011, approximately 3 million patients received PC and only 1 in 10 people in need is currently receiving it. Although most PC is provided in high-income countries (HIC), almost 80% of the global need is in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC). Only 20 countries have PC well integrated into their health-care systems. In regards to opioids, >5 billion people (83% of the world's population) live in countries with low to nonexistent access, 250 million (4%) have moderate access, and only 460 million (7%) have adequate access. In order for PC and pain treatment strategies to be effective, they must be incorporated by governments into all levels of their health care systems. In 1990, the WHO pioneered a public health strategy to integrate PC into existing health care systems which includes four components: (1) appropriate policies, (2) adequate availability of medications, (3) education of health care workers and the public, and (4) implementation of PC services at all levels throughout the society. This topical review describes the current status of the field, and presents several initiatives by United Nations (UN) organizations and the civil society to improve access to PC and to pain treatment for patients in need.