On 29 November 2023 THE LANCET published the letter written on behalf of several palliative care organisations around the world calling for better access to palliative medicine in armed conflict.
The authors cited are: William E Rosa, Stephen Connor, Julia Downing, Joan Marston and Lukas Radbruch
The Israel–Hamas conflict amplifies the dire need for access to morphine and other essential palliative care medicines included on WHO’s Model Lists of Essential Medicines to alleviate serious health-related suffering in a timely and effective manner during humanitarian crises. The global palliative care community recognises such access as a matter of preserving human dignity and a moral obligation to relieve serious health-related suffering for the most vulnerable people (e.g., babies, children, pregnant women, older people, people with disabilities, and people with serious illness and injury) in the face of escalating violence and armed conflict.
At the onset of the Russia–Ukraine war, we advocated for the creation of similar pathways to allow for access to essential medicine to manage pain and other distressing symptoms from surgery, life-limiting illness and injury, and at end of life. The matter is equally as pressing in Ethiopia, Sudan, Venezuela, Myanmar, and countless other regions in crisis.
CLICK HERE to read on THE LANCET website.
