"INTERVIEW: PAIN RELIEF FOR MEXICO’S – AND THE WORLD’S – TERMINALLY ILL"

Mexico, like much of the developing world, is facing a growing public health challenge – more people than ever will be dying from chronic illnesses like cancer, heart disease and diabetes that often cause extreme pain. In 2009, Mexico passed a progressive law granting patients given less than six months to live access to palliative care, which focuses on treating pain and other symptoms. Palliative care is relatively low cost – medicines such as morphine costs pennies per dose, although training staff can be more costly – and it can allow people to re-engage with life and pass away with dignity. Despite this law, little changed for Mexico’s terminally ill – at least at first. Associate Health Director Diederik Lohman talks about how Mexico came to embrace the necessity of pain relief, his work on palliative care around the world, and how it can give the terminally ill an opportunity for joy and meaning at the end of life.