Nursing

Pain relief

Health care

Public health

Global health

Surgery

Palliative care

Political science

Family medicine

MEDLINE

Medicine

Commission

The Lancet Global Health

The burden of serious health-related suffering is huge and could in large part be alleviated with palliative care and pain relief. About 25·5 million of 56·2 million people who died in 2015 experienced serious health-related suffering, and another 35·5 million experienced serious health-related suffering due to life-threatening and life-limiting conditions. A disproportionate number (more than 80%) of these 61 million individuals live in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs) with severely limited access to any palliative care, even oral morphine for pain relief.

The Lancet Commission on Palliative Care and Pain Relief—findings, recommendations, and future directions