Cancer experts have called for the provision of a
universal pain control medication that will help reduce the suffering for all cancer patients worldwide.
The call was made at a press conference organised by a strong group of leaders in the fight against Cancer when they launched the Global Access to Pain Relief Initiative (GAPRI), as part of the 2010 Cancer Congress held in
Shenzhen in China this month.
The Congress, organised by the International Union Against Cancer (UICC), with support from the host nation and other supporting Agencies such
as the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the American Cancer Society (ANC) among other groups every two years, attracted about 6,000 delegates from all over the world to China's Shenzhen Convention and Exhibition Centre, the venue.
The GAPRI is an action generally aimed at helping to make effective pain control measures available universally to all cancer patients across the globe as a way of meeting the eighth (8th) target of the World Cancer Declaration which states that "effective pain control measures will be available universally to all cancer patients in pain".
The World Cancer Declaration which was affirmed at the Shenzhen Congress, has targeted 11 areas of the cancer menace to be eliminated by
2020. Target number eight if achieved, would help reverse the cancer epidemic by the deadline.
It is a tool that has been adopted by the UICC and its collaborators to help cancer advocates to bring the growing cancer crisis to the attention of health policymakers at national, regional and global levels. By the 2020 deadline, the Declaration is expecting that Sustainable delivery systems will be in place to ensure that effective cancer control programmes are
available in all countries and that the measurement of the global cancer burden and the impact of cancer control interventions would have improved significantly.
Some of the leaders promoting GAPRI include UICC President Professor David Hill, Liliana De Lima, Executive Director for the International
Association for Hospice and Palliative Care, Mr Nathan Grey, National Vice President for International Affairs at the American Cancer Society, Dr Jim Cleary, Pain and Policy Studies Group, University of Wisconsin, United States and Professor Kathy Foley, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York.
According to Professor David Hill, there was the need for the international community as well as government's and policy makers to provide
the needed assistance for the programme to stop the needless pain suffered by cancer patients.
Patients would be able to manage their conditions better if they have access to regular and effective pain medication, Prof Hill said, and urged the relevant organisations and institutions to support the programme which
he described as important and would help millions of people globally.
The WHO estimates that five billion people live in countries with limited or no access to controlled medicines. A majority of those countries lack basic treatment for moderate to severe pain due to inequality in access
to pain medication for cancer patients. GAPRI would therefore promote the need to meet requirements under target eight.
Statistics indicate that the incidence and burden of cancer is huge. Cancer kills more people on a global scale than AIDS, malaria and TB
combined. Nearly 12.7 million cases and 7.6 million deaths due to the disease were reported in 2008.
According to experts, the global cancer epidemic is set to continue rising, placing further strains on both individuals and their families and the society in general. The number of cancer cases and related deaths worldwide is estimated to double over the next 20-40 years. By 2030 it is believed that there will be 26 million new cancer cases and 17 million cancer deaths per year.
By Yaa Oforiwah Asare-Peasah (Back from Shenzhen-China)Courtesy: Newmont Ghana/CHOCHO Industries