Access to Pain Management—Still Very Much a Human Right

The present AAPM President’s Message reinforces and extends the three published to date during the current President’s term—all under the broad theme of pain as a public health issue. A key tenet of contemporary public health is its concern for social justice and human rights. In recent decades, the concept of pain management as a fundamental human right has emerged as a source of advocacy and obligation. In the American scene, this concept has recently been challenged as part of a broad reaction to societal crises of opioid misuse and abuse, often diverted from prescription pain medications. However, on a global basis recent initiatives likewise voice concerns about substance use but emphasize the importance of access to pain assessment and treatment. In 2007, the authors published a review article (Pain Management: a Fundamental Human Right. Anesth Analg 2007;105:205–21) that outlined the legal rights to pain management. The intervening nine years have seen rapidly unfolding developments in advocacy for this concept by pain and palliative care groups, the World Health Organization, the United Nations, and other international organizations. In light of its ongoing relevance to current conversations about pain control and public policy, Dr. Carr invited Drs. Brennan and Cousins to join him to briefly survey a few of the many interim global developments and comment upon the future of human rights discourse in pain medicine.