anna rosbach societal impact of pain 2012 anna rosbach, member of the european parliament european...

Anna Rosbach Societal Impact of Pain 2012

Anna Rosbach, Member of the European Parliament

European Conservatives and Reformists Group

Working together in politics against pain

- And how we can put the issue of pain more on the agenda.

Anna RosbachSocietal Impact of Pain 2012

Independent Danish member of the European Parliament

Member of the Bureau of the European Conservatives and Reformists Group

Group coordinator in the Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety

Substitute member of the Fisheries Committee and the Committee on Transport and Tourism

Vice-chair of the Delegation for relations with the Korean Peninsula


Chronic pain is – as we all know here - a burden to millions of people in Europe.

However unfortunately chronic pain is often not given the same level of attention as chronic diseases by society, governments and health care systems.

One reason for this can be that pain in many ways is less obvious to outsiders than many diseases are.


While working together against pain

We must ensure that Chronic pain is approached in the same way we would if it was a disease.

That means that chronic pain should no longer be given less attention and care than temporary pain.

And society needs to know, that the consequences of pain are many.


A very important first step towards this, is to get chronic pain acknowledged on level with chronic diseases in all member countries.

Unfortunately many countries still do not this – including my own country, Denmark.

To change this we need ways to show how important a factor pain can be for those who suffer from it.

To do this, we need to try and measure it


Measuring pain and its consequences

In politics one should never underestimate the power of numbers. Having the right numbers can mean the difference between influencing the agenda or not.


Economic costs It is relatively easy to measure (some of) the direct economic

costs of pain in our society:

In a simplified way this can be done by looking at the amount of working days lost due to pain – and how this negatively affects the production of a country or region.

If we want to go deeper than that, we can look at what it costs us in health care expenditures and in benefits and pension for people who become temporarily or permanent unable to work due to pain (chronic or not).


Is Economy enough?

The question is if this is really all there is to pain as a societal problem?

As anyone dealing with people suffering from pain knows all to well, the impact of pain goes beyond the economy.

That is why we need to include more indicators when we try to measure the consequences of pain.


Towards a well-being approach

By moving towards the “well-being” approach we make it more complicated, but also more relevant. It offers us a systematic approach to how pain might affect the life of people, directly as well as indirectly.

It also helps us to understand where we need society to act to help people suffering from chronic pain.

We do this by including many more factors.


The importance of work

Especially one factor deserves to be giving a bit of extra spotlight: The importance of work. Not only for economic reasons but also for the social contact it offers.

While looking at the economic cost of job-loss (or reduction) following chronic pain, we only see part of the picture.

With the well-being perspective included we get numbers for how important employment is to most people, both economically and socially.


A simplified example

Employment has a direct effect on our feeling of well-being, but also affects several other factors:

Income level Housing conditions Social contact Posibility for recreational activities Work-life balance


Other consequences of job-loss

If somebody is being struck by pain to the degree that it affects his or her employment, we see that the previous mentioned factors are impacted, but it doesn’t stop there.

More importantly it can also lead to Limitations in daily activity (including recreational activities). A reduction in the perception of personal health. (Further) limitations in social contact. A general feeling of reduced well-being.


Impact on family life

These indirect effects are often reproduced wholly or partly for the members of the pain-sufferer’s family.

A reduction in living standards is likely to affect partner and children, just like limitations in social contacts or activities.

That means that the effects of pain should not only focus on those suffering directly from it but also, with secondary focus on the family unit.


What does this mean?

Relief for the ones suffering from pain can come in other forms than ”just” pain-reduction; including social help or initiatives.

Improving the conditions of pain-sufferers is likely to have a positive effect on more people than ”merely” those suffering from the pain.

This can help stimulate political interest.


What does this mean – part II

It also means that by adopting a well-being approach, we gain different ways to measure and compare the outcome of large scale projects on treating pain; by looking at more than ”just” the pain reduction itself, but the whole picture of well-being we get a different picture.

And this of course if why we need multi-stakeholder pain platforms


What does this mean?

Relief for the ones suffering from pain can come in other forms than ”just” pain-reduction; including social help or initiatives.

Improving the conditions of pain-sufferers is likely to have a positive effect on more people than ”merely” those suffering from the pain.

This can help stimulate political interest.


Multi-stakeholder pain platforms

With an issue as complex as pain, it is important that we find ways to combine the experience of all those who:

Suffer from it Treat it Do the research into it Decision makers on all levels


The European level

Patients need to be organised on a European level in order to create a strong voice.

Efforts must combined and we need to exchange our experiences with prevention and treatment across borders.


As politicians we must realize, that opting for what can seem like the cheapest solution can quickly end up being the most expensive.

One clear example is the recent Danish decision to remove the subsidies for many drugs, instead putting people on cheaper morphine.

In the end this will be much more expensive for society, and much harder for the people affected.


The way forwardOne of the important roles of multi-stakeholder platforms is to

increase the level of knowledge about pain and its consequences.

In this way we can hopefully avoid repeating the mistakes of the

past (and the present).


And just to underline my point

… I will finish with a graph showing how many Europeans are suffering from pain to the degree that it affects their daily lives (just in case you haven’t already had your share of statistics here).


Respondents who have ever had any pain (affecting muscles, joints, neck or back) which affected the ability to carry out the activities of daily life, lasting for 3 months or more?

Special Eurobarometer 272e / Wave 66.2 – TNS Opinion & Social. This survey was requested by Directorate General SANCO and coordinated by Directorate General COMMUNICATION – Sept. 2007

AT

FIDK D-E LT

SI SESK

DE LVBED-W EE

CY (tcc)NL BGEU 25CZ IT PL UK HR

HUES FR

ROMT PT

CY

IE LU

EL

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%


ContactAnna Rosbach

European Parliament

Rue Wiertz 60 –WIB 05M095

B-1047 Bruxelles

Tel. +32 2 28 45746

Fax. +32 2 28 49746

[email protected]: European Parliament

Anna Rosbach with commissioner of fisheries Maria Damanaki

anna rosbach societal impact of pain 2012 anna rosbach, member of the european parliament european...

Documents

chronic pain

pain chronic

consequences of pain

measuring pain

factor pain

temporary pain

issue of pain

direct economic costs