35% of Peruvians suffer from chronic pain

Some 190 million people suffer from chronic pain in Latin America, 12 million of whom are disabled due to chronic low back pain.

On the occasion of the International Day Against Pain, which is commemorated on October 17 of each year, the president of the Peruvian Association for Pain Studies (Asped), Enrique Orillo, pointed out that 35% of the population of his country, from 32 million inhabitants suffer from chronic pain.

Orrillo remarked that in Peru there is difficulty in dealing with chronic pain, because, in many cases, it is perceived as a symptom, despite the fact that if it lasts for more than three months it is considered a disease.

In the Andean country, there is also a trend towards self-medication, which means that “patients receive recommendations from the pharmacy clerk, family members and other people who do not necessarily have an academic training, which can aggravate their condition,” he added. .

Referring to the regional situation, the president of the Latin American Federation of Associations for the Study of Pain (Fedelat), Marco Narváez, commented that this disease is one of the main causes of disability, since it produces functional, physical and psychological damage, both the patient and his family.

Narváez added that with the advancement of the vaccination campaigns against COVID-19 in Latin America “many patients are returning for consultation” and “they are joined by those who had not been diagnosed or became ill in that period, which has produced an over-demand in attention ”.

This situation, together with the shortage of specialists for adequate pain management, represents an important health challenge in Latin America where, according to Narváez, the time it takes for a patient to access a timely diagnosis and treatment can extend up to two years.

For his part, the president of the Colombian Association for the Study of Pain (ACED), Felipe Mejía, affirmed that although chronic pain is usually associated with degenerative diseases in advanced age, pathologies such as cancer or the postoperative period, this does not it means that it must be suffered.

“An adequate diagnosis brings us closer to the best possible management of chronic pain and the control of its pathology or painful symptoms, depending on your case,” he said.

The experts agreed, in this regard, that it is important to prioritize the education of professionals and the proper care of chronic pain in the region.

In this sense, Orillo highlighted that the training in Peru has been joined by the master’s degree in Palliative Care and Pain Management from the Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, which has the support of the Grünenthal Foundation for Palliative Medicine.

He also said that, soon, a chronic pain diploma will be implemented, in partnership with Asped.

Within the framework of the International Day Against Pain this past week, the Latin American Chronic Pain Workshop for journalists was held, organized by Grünenthal and Fedelat, with the participation of doctors Narváez, Mejía and the scientific journalist Iván Carrillo.