Disparities and crisis: access to opioid medicines in Mexico

Abstract

The Lancet Commission on Palliative Care and Pain Relief report1 identified an extensive, global gap between need and access that has been ignored in global health and overlooked in the quest for universal health coverage. Our Commission found that, while high-income countries tend to stock much more opioid medication than needed, most low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs) have access to only a small proportion of the medication required for palliative care to relieve serious health-related suffering (SHS).