Redefining Palliative Care-A New Consensus-Based Definition.

Context: The International Association for Hospice and Palliative Care developed a consensus-based definition of palliative care (PC) that focuses on the relief of serious health-related suffering, a concept put forward by the Lancet Commission Global Access to Palliative Care and Pain Relief.

Objective: The main objective of this article is to present the research behind the new definition.

Methods: The three-phased consensus process involved health care workers from countries in all income levels.

Access to opioids: a global pain management crisis.

The lack of availability of opioids in many countries has created a pain management crisis. Because the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs requires governments to report annual opioid statistics, there is a need for methods to calculate individual nations' opioid needs. Ways to address this need are discussed.

Opioid inaccessibility and its human consequences: reports from the field.

Strong opioids such as morphine are rarely accessible in low- and middle-income countries, even for patients with the most severe pain. The three cases reported here from three diverse countries provide examples of the terrible and unnecessary suffering that occurs everyday when this essential, inexpensive, and safe medication is not adequately accessible by patients in pain. The reasons for this lack of accessibility are explored, and ways to resolve the problem are proposed.