Calling for advocacy, education and public policy actions on pain control for patients with cancer in Africa

Abstract

It is of serious concern that there is a lack of focus on pain management in patients with cancer in Africa. Most patients with cancer present with advanced disease on diagnosis, experiencing moderate to severe pain and in need of palliative care. Integration of palli-ative and oncology care is recommended by European Society of Medical Oncology (ESMO) and by the World Health Assembly resolution WHA67.19.At the recent ESMO Summit Africa 2020, a Pain Workshop was attended by representatives from across Africa. A consensus was reached to escalate concerns about lack of pain management in patients with cancer in Africa and to call on ESMO to make universal cancer pain control, and integrated oncology and palliative care as an immediate priority area.