Published on: March 7, 2017

Pallium India’s March 2017 newsletter had opened with an announcement of ten international palliative care organizations collaborating to urge governments to ensure balanced access to opioids for pain relief. To this, Mr Yau Weng Wai of Asia Pacific Hospice Palliative care Network (APHN) writes, “Here’s a 5 minute film to complement the 1st article in the Pallium India newsletter, see http://lifeaskeddeath.com/opioid-access/.”

Indeed, that’s a brilliant visual description of the problem in just about 5 minutes. You wouldn’t regret watching it. And to those who still wonder whether it would not increase the risk of abuse of opioids, let us assure you, many countries including several developing nations have ensured (notably, the south Indian state of Kerala) have demonstrated that with some basic precautions, it is indeed possibly to have the balance – making opioids available for pain relief, at the same time preventing diversion.

Mr Weng Wai has also recommended watching another 5 minute film called “Reaching Policy Makers” which focuses on the integration of palliative care into government run health systems.