
US attack on WHO 'hindering morphine drive in poor countries' - cf141q5325
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/sep/18/us-attack-world-health-organization-who-hindering-morphine-drive-poor-countries
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cf141q5325
>Prof Felicia Knaul of the University of Miami, chair of a recent Lancet
commission on palliative care, said the Congress members’ report was not
evidence-based. “Actions that are not based in evidence will do harm,” she
said.

>The stakes were high, she said. “I believe that policies that work to deny
access to necessary pain relief medication in low- and middle-income countries
because of the situation in the United States are akin to denying food to
people suffering from malnutrition because there is an obesity epidemic in the
United States.

>“More than 60 million people every year require pain relief and palliative
care and we know that more than 80% get virtually nothing. The vast majority
of those individuals live in low- and middle-income countries. I consider it
despicable from an ethical point of view and completely antithetical to the
goals of global health and sustainable development to have children and adults
living and dying in extreme pain when we have very inexpensive safe
medications that we could offer them. Poor policies in the United States are
not an excuse for allowing that to continue to happen.”

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DanBC
They always start by talking about end-of-life care (and they're right, people
at end of life need unfettered access to pain medication), but they're not
really talking about end of life care.

They're talking about using opioids for all types of pain, in all people with
pain.

> Guidelines on the Pharmacological Treatment of Persisting Pain in Children
> with Medical Illnesses

"Persisting pain" is not palliative care. It's chronic conditions. These are
echoes of drug company propaganda and we need to be vigilant to tackle it.

~~~
cf498
Except that most people around the globe cant afford the non opioid
alternatives. You know the alternatives big pharma is making billions off. Of
the 60 million pain patients worldwide 80% get nothing because the US doesnt
like when people get high on opiates. I didnt think that i needed to repeat
that, but these people are suffering because of the crusade fundamentalists in
the US started. The absolute disregard for fellow human beings is absolutely
breathtaking.

These people are suffering and dont need to, morphin is cheap enough that any
nation can afford it. There is no patent, no big pharma, only fields of
poppies. I see no difference to people torturing these millions themselves.

Its a war on the poor. Its colonialism in its ugliest form. Maybe you should
reflect for a second on what your inconsiderate US centrist lobbying is doing
to the rest of the world.

For 80% of the worlds pain patients the reality is this

[https://youtu.be/QOmEQGvgq4A?t=74](https://youtu.be/QOmEQGvgq4A?t=74)

Its people slowly perishing in screams of agony. Its monstrous. People are so
far detached from the consequences of their actions that they dont waste a
second thought about quite literally torturing people to death.

~~~
DanBC
Again, opioids should be used for end of life treatment, but opioids are a
poor choice for many people with long term pain.

Opioids do not work for many people living with long term pain.

Those people deserve treatment for their pain that is effective. For many of
them opioids are a bad choice.

