Let's Talk Cancer

Medicine and misuse: navigating the pain relief divide

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Episode notes

Millions of people around the world are living and dying in terrible and preventable pain.

Pain is unfortunately a common symptom in many types of cancer, or a side effect of cancer treatments such as chemotherapy or radiation. However, the production and distribution of medicines, such as morphine, tend to be heavily regulated. The burden is unevenly shared. 50% of the world’s poorest populations live in countries that receive only 1% of the opioid pain relief medicines distributed worldwide. 

This episode of Let's Talk Cancer explores the pain relief divide with Elizabeth Saenz, from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and Michel Kazatchkine, former Executive Director of the Global Fund and a member of the Global Commission on Drug Policy, a group of high-level personalities who advocate for the strict legal regulation of psychoactive substances.

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