Initiative launched to improve access to pain medicines across Europe

Help the Hospices is part of a new consortium of academic institutions and public health organisations working to help European governments identify and remove barriers that prevent people from accessing medicines that could improve end of life care, alleviate debilitating pain and treat heroin dependence.

About 1.7 million people in Europe die from cancer each year, many experiencing severe pain, even though effective pain medications exist. Launched in February in Aachen, Germany, and co-led by the University of Aachen, Lancaster University (UK), and the World Health Organization (WHO), the Access to Opioid Medication in Europe (ATOME) project will address the legal, administrative and organisational barriers that impede access to pain management for treatment of cancer and other conditions in many European countries.

Professor Lukas Radbruch, chair of palliative medicine of the University Hospital Aachen, said: “We have made great progress in pain management in the last decade, and nobody ought to suffer from pain. But still patients are dying in terrible pain, without a chance to get morphine. Our new project aims to work closely with policy makers and doctors in 12 countries to remove legal barriers to access to morphine and other opioids.”

Help the Hospices, a partner in the consortium, will bring together all the main stakeholders in opioids access through national conferences in each of the 12 European countries targeted by the project.

David Praill, chief executive of Help the Hospices, said: “We believe everyone with a life-limiting and terminal illness has the right to receive the best possible care, irrespective of where they live or what condition they have. Access to pain relief is one of the barriers stopping this visions becoming a reality. We are delighted to be part of this new consortium and look forward to working with its partners to take positive steps towards universal access to palliative care.”

There is great variability across European countries in terms of legal controls of morphine and other opioids. This means that in some countries it is very difficult for doctors to prescribe pain management medicines. In other cases, physicians may be unfamiliar with prescribing this special class of medicine. As well, misperceptions around opioids and dependence can limit access for both pain management and treatment of drug dependence.

With a commitment of 2.45 million Euro over five years from the European Commission’s 7th Framework Programme, the 10 ATOME partners will work with the country teams, including government officials and public health and medicines experts, to carry out legislative and policy reviews, leading to recommendations that will facilitate access for all patients requiring treatment with medicines controlled under the international drug conventions.

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