Abstract
BackgroundPain is an enormous problem globally. Estimates suggest that 20% of adults suffer from pain globally and 10% are newly diagnosed with chronic pain each year. Nevertheless, the problem of pain has primarily been regarded as a medical problem, and has been little addressed by the field of public health.DiscussionDespite the ubiquity of pain, whether acute, chronic or intermittent, public health scholars and practitioners have not addressed this issue as a public health problem. The importance of viewing pain through a public health lens allows one to understand pain as a multifaceted, interdisciplinary problem for which many of the causes are the social determinants of health. Addressing pain as a global public health issue will also aid in priority setting and formulating public health policy to address this problem, which, like most other chronic non-communicable diseases, is growing both in absolute numbers and in its inequitable distribution across the globe.SummaryThe prevalence, incidence, and vast social and health consequences of global pain requires that the public health community give due attention to this issue. Doing so will mean that health care providers and public health professionals will have a more comprehensive understanding of pain and the appropriate public health and social policy responses to this problem.
Highlights
Summary: The prevalence, incidence, and vast social and health consequences of global pain requires that the public health community give due attention to this issue
It has been estimated that 1 in 5 adults suffer from pain and that another 1 in 10 adults are diagnosed with chronic pain each year [1]
We argue that pain ought to be regarded as a global public health priority, a point which establishes a baseline for future ethical analyses
Summary
Priority Setting for Pain and Public Health The setting of public health priorities is a complex, controversial and political process. Important essential medicines are to treating chronic pain, a public health model recommends that significant global attention and resources be shifted to the macrosocial determinants that most powerfully shape the patterns of chronic pain, its comorbid diseases, and the distribution of both. This shift in policy from the micro-level focus on the provision of health care services to a macro-level approach addressing the structural determinants of health dovetails with a number of practices and reports urging the same kind of health policy shift, including but not limited to the World Health Organization, the Marmot Review, and the Commission to Build a Healthier America. Competing interests Neither DSG nor SJM has any competing interests to declare
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
