Pain is widely undertreated, causing suffering and financial loss to individuals and to society. This is specifically true for countries with low resources as is the case in many African countries. It is believed that health care of all patients should include pain assessment, its impact on the patient, specific efforts by healthcare professionals to control pain, and the development of programs to generate experts in pain management. The aim of these efforts is to ensure that pain control receives a high priority in the healthcare system. Also, students, clinicians and researches should be made aware of the problems of pain management and be encouraged to dedicate their time to study of the pathophysiology and management of pain.
Since not all pain research results from other regions of the world may be relevant or appropriate in the African setting, this symposium covers some basic issues in pain management: (1) patients have the right to structured and adequate pain treatment, (2) pain is a biopsychosocial phenomenon, (3) pain management requires an interdisciplinary and interprofessional approach, (4) continuing education, the reviewing of treatment algorithms, and the application of ethical principles are a prerequisite for a professional approach to pain management, (5) basic and clinical research in Africa is necessary to ensure adequate awareness and quality of pain management and (5) the availability and usefulness of opioids have to be made known to all clinicians with respect to the legal, medical and research implications.
Pain management and research in Africa , the IASP perspective
Maged El-Ansary, Professor of Pain Medicine, Al Azhar University, Cairo , Egypt , President of the AASP 18, Goul Gamal St. Mohandessien, zip code 12311, P. O. Box 274 Dokki, Egypt, Mobile ++2-012- 2166808, Email maged@elansary.com
Physiology of opioids
Alexander Brack, Privatdozent, D.E.S.A., Department of Anesthesiology, Würzburg University Medical Centre 6, Oberdürrbacher Straße , 97080 Würzburg , Germany, Phone: ++49-931-201-30012, Email brack_a@klinik.uni-wuerzburg.de
Pros and cons of opioids in pain management
Andreas Kopf, Director Pain and Palliative Care, Department of Anesthesiology, Benjamin Franklin Medical Centre, Charité University Berlin 30, Hindenburgdamm 30, 12200 Berlin , Germany, Phone: ++49-30-8445-2733, Email andreas.kopf@charite.de
New targets for analgesics research
Nilesh Patel, Professor of Physiology, Department of Medical Physiology, University of Nairobi, P.O. Box 30197 , Nairobi , Kenya, Phone: ++254-020-4442309, Email npatel@uonbi.ac.ke
Why acute pain management matters and how to introduce simple algorithms for acute pain management in my hospital
Magdy R. Iskander, National Cancer Institute, Cairo University Cairo , Egypt Phone: ++, Email smagdir_iskander@hotmail.com