For the World Hospice and Palliative Care Day
Saturday 10 October 2015
Right to pain relief: 5.5 billion people have no access
to treatment, warn UN experts
GENEVA (9 October 2015) – Speaking ahead of the World
Hospice and Palliative Care Day*, two United Nations human rights experts urge
States and the international community to prioritize universal and
non-discriminatory availability and access to palliative care and pain relief
treatment to anyone in need.
The UN Independent Expert on the enjoyment of all human
rights by older persons, Rosa Kornfeld-Matte, and the Special Rapporteur on the
right to health, Dainius Pûras, warn that in many countries palliative care is
still non-existent or not even recognized as a medical specialty.
“An estimated 5.5 billion people have no or inadequate
access to medicines containing narcotic drugs or to treatment for moderate to
severe pain, according to the UN International Narcotics Control Board - the
body charged with the implementation of the UN drug conventions.
In other words, three quarters of the world’s population,
have limited or no access to pain relief treatment. Older persons with a
life-threatening or life-limiting illness continue to have limited access to
medication, due to restrictive drug regulations and the failure to implement a
properly functioning supply and distribution system.
This is often exacerbated by inadequate health-care
system capacity and a lack of training programmes that address the specific
needs and wishes of older persons. In fact, in many countries, palliative care
is still non-existent or not recognized as a medical specialty.
Older persons have the right to live the last years of
their lives with dignity and without unnecessary suffering. Obstacles to accessing
palliative care must be identified and tackled to provide relief for those in
need.
On occasion of the World Hospice and Palliative Care Day,
we call on States to comply fully with their obligations and ensure the
availability and accessibility of such care for all in need.”
(*) The World Hospice and Palliative Care Day takes place
the second Saturday of October every year. The Day is organized by a committee
of the Worldwide Palliative Care Alliance, a network of national and regional
hospice and palliative care organizations that support the development of
hospice and palliative care worldwide. This year’s theme is “Hidden
Lives/Hidden Patients”.
ENDS
Ms. Rosa Kornfeld-Matte (Chile) was appointed by the
Human Rights Council as the first Independent Expert on the enjoyment of all
human rights by older persons in May 2014. Ms. Kornfeld-Matte served as the
National Director of the Chilean National Service of Ageing where she designed
and implemented the National Policy of Ageing. She has a long career as an
academic and is the founder of the programme for older persons at the
Pontifical Catholic University of Chile. Learn more, visit:
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/OlderPersons/IE/Pages/IEOlderPersons.aspx
Human rights of older persons: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/OlderPersons/Pages/OlderPersonsIndex.aspx
Mr. Dainius Pûras (Lithuania) was appointed by the Human
Rights Council as the Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the
enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health. He
is a medical doctor with notable expertise on mental health, child health, and
public health policies. He is a Professor and the Head of the Centre for Child
Psychiatry Social Paediatrics at Vilnius University, and teaches at the Faculty
of Medicine, Institute of International Relations and Political science and
Faculty of Philosophy of Vilnius University, Lithuania. Learn more, visit:
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Health/Pages/SRRightHealthIndex.aspx
The Special Rapporteurs are part of what is known as the
Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures, the largest
body of independent experts in the UN Human Rights system, is the general name
of the Council’s independent fact-finding and monitoring mechanisms that
address either specific country situations or thematic issues in all parts of
the world. Special Procedures’ experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not
UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. They are independent from
any government or organization and serve in their individual capacity.
For further information and media requests, please
contact Mr. Khaled Hassine (+41 22 917 93 67 / khassine@ohchr.org) or write to
olderpersons@ohchr.org
For media inquiries related to other UN independent
experts:
Xabier Celaya – Media Unit (+ 41 22 917 9383 /
xcelaya@ohchr.org)
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