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LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Pain Management: Citizenship or Human Right?

Riyadh Military Hospital; Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; janwari{at}hotmail.com

To the Editor:

I congratulate Brennnan et al.1 for surveying the worldwide efforts to improve pain management. Promoting pain management as a basic human right is highly commendable for it has been an issue long kept in the dark. However, the international pain management efforts described in the survey delineate the rights for citizens of Western nations as opposed to those worldwide. Alas, one of the accompanying editorials highlights issues related to the health system of a single country.2

Global efforts to improve health standards in the Third World are mostly restricted to covenants, reports, and declarations by vocal yet powerless organizations. As Brennan et al. point out, the massive resource discrepancy between need and availability is the greatest challenge limiting the fulfillment of pain management as a universal human right. At the same time, the authors have not provided a solution to this problem. Are we not morally obligated to distribute available resources more fairly and, if not, what options remain? Perhaps leading developed nations (G-8) must assume the role of benefactor in addressing the relief of pain as a fundamental human right.

I suggest that ethical behavior is the most important criterion for relieving human suffering. Through ethics, not only in science but also in other fields (such as economics, politics, law, etc.), a solution to uphold and safeguard human rights, including the right to be pain free, could be comprehensively sought. In the present time of moral crisis, I am delighted by Fishman's remark about returning medicine to its humanistic roots.2

REFERENCES

1. Brennan F, Carr DB, Cousins M. Pain management: a fundamental human right. Anesth Analg 2007;105:205–21[Abstract/Free Full Text]
2. Fishman SM. Recognizing pain management as a human right: a first step. Anesth Analg 2007;105:8–9[Free Full Text]

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