EFIC Symposium on the “Societal impact of pain”, Brussels, May 2010
The European umbrella group EFIC held a meeting attended by almost 200 experts. The discussions produced two very important conclusions. Firstly, European healthcare professionals lack a common approach to the assessment and treatment of pain. Secondly, treated pain patients cost much less to society than people in pain who receive no treatment. The discussions also underlined the need for a multidisciplinary approach to pain and the need for better education and training for health care professionals. In discussing the impact of pain on society delegates concluded that pain itself has the greatest impact on quality of life irrespective of the underlying disease. Raising awareness of pain is an important issue within healthcare systems in Europe, but the indirect costs of pain are usually not part of their direct mandate or responsibility. EFIC is therefore determined to support dialogue on the "Societal Impact of Pain" with national policy-makers, especially to simplify the exchange of information and so help patients. This will also be the theme of the 2010 “European Week Against Pain” to be held in October 2010. Discussions have already started on holding another symposium on the societal impact of pain.
The European Federation of IASP chapters (EFIC) is a multidisciplinary professional organization in the field of pain science and medicine, made up of European Chapters of IASP (International Association for the Study of Pain). http://www.efic.org