Please take the time to view our new documentary called Freedom From Pain. It airs on the Al Jazeera English program People & Power on Wednesday July 20 at 3:30 p.m. pt.
Nine journalism students, myself included, traveled to India, Ukraine, and Uganda to investigate how countries around the world treat patients suffering from extreme medical pain.
What we found was alarming: Millions of people in the world are suffering from advanced cancers, horrific wounds, and terminal illnesses with virtually no access to painkillers. But unlike so many global health problems, we found that the lack of pain treatment isn’t about money or shortage of drugs. Morphine — the gold standard in pain treatment — is not only cheap, but is also readily available. We discovered that inflexible, outdated bureaucracies and an irrational fear of narcotics are responsible for the suffering of so many people around the world. Some experts have even compared the suffering of these millions of patients to torture.
However, there is hope. We met with pioneers and doctors in the medical and human rights communities that tirelessly fight to get morphine to patients who need it most and end the needless suffering.
For more information please email me at evan@evanduggan.com.
A press release will be available on Monday, July 18.
