What is the current status of cancer pain treatment in China?

  In order to improve the quality of life of cancer patients, WHO established the Expert Committee on Cancer Pain Treatment in 1982, formulated the principle of three-step analgesia, and proposed the goal of “making cancer patients pain-free worldwide by the year 2000”. The Ministry of Health of China responded positively to this call and took a series of measures, such as setting up a professional association for cancer rehabilitation and palliative care in China, holding national workshops and seminars, issuing guiding documents and study materials, and adjusting the supply policy of narcotic drugs. As a result, pain treatment in China has made great progress compared with the starting stage, but there is still a huge gap with the needs and requirements. According to the WHO three-step principle, more than 80% of patients can obtain adequate pain relief through opioid, non-opioid analgesics and adjuvant drug therapy, while the situation of cancer pain in China is still very serious. In China, there are about 2 million new cancer patients each year, and the incidence of pain is about 40%-65%, among which 15%-30% are in early stage, 40%-50% in middle stage, and 50%-70% in late stage. Up to 60% of these cancer pain patients still have pain, and the proportion is as high as 70% in late stage.