Pain and Palliative Care for People Living with HIV/AIDS in Asia

Abstract

Millions of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLHA) in Asia need access to palliative care as part of a comprehensive response to their support needs. There are many causes of pain in HIV/AIDS, and its prevalence is as high if not higher than in cancer, but it is frequently undertreated. Access to adequate pain relief and palliative care is impeded by the barriers which face PLHA in Asia. These include few care and support services, lack of recognition and acknowledgement of pain in HIV/AIDS by health care professionals, widespread stigma and discrimination especially towards vulnerable groups such as injecting drug users, government regulatory mechanisms which make access to opioids even more difficult for the care services which have developed and a lack of understanding of or advocacy for pain relief and palliative care in the literature on HIV/AIDS care and support. During the growth of palliative care in Asia, there is opportunity for advocates of palliative care and care for PLHA to collaborate to influence national policy.

Key Words:

• HIV
• AIDS
• persons living with AIDS
• PLHA
• pain
• palliative care
• Asia
• policy
• barriers

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Marie Coughlan

Cherokee Layson-Wolf, PharmD, is Assistant Professor at the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy. At the time that this review was conducted, she was a Community Care Pharmacy Practice Resident at Virginia Commonwealth University.

Perry G. Fine, MD, is Professor of Anesthesiology, School of Medicine and Associate Medical Director, Pain Management Center at the University of Utah Health Sciences Center, Salt Lake City; and National Medical Director, VistaCare, based in Scottsdale, AZ. This commentary is based on an article in Dr. Fine's VistaCare Palliative Medicine Monitor.

Jonathan R. Gavrin, MD, is the Internet editor for the Journal. He is Associate Professor of Anesthesiology and Adjunct Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Washington School of Medicine; Associate Member, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center; and Associate Director for Clinical Anesthesia Services, Harborview Medical Center.

Philip J. Wiffen, is the Regional Pharmaceutical and Prescribing Adviser, Anglia & Oxford Region of the National Health Service Executive, a member of the Oxford Regional Pain Relief Unit and Coordinating Editor of the Cochrane Collaboration Pain Palliative and Supportive Care Collaborative Review Group.

Philip J. Wiffen, BPharm, MRPharmS, MFPHM (Hon) is Regional Pharmaceutical and Prescribing Adviser, Anglia & Oxford Region of the National Health Service Executive, a member of the Pain Relief Unit, Churchill Hospital, and Coordinating Editor, Cochrane Collaboration Pain Palliative and Supportive Care Collaborative Review Group.

Howard A. Heit, practices pain medicine and addiction medicine in Fairfax, Virginia, and is Assistant Clinical Professor of Medicine at Georgetown University, Washington, DC. Dr. Heit was a member of the Liaison Committee on Pain and Addiction.

Philip J. Wiffen, is Regional Pharmaceutical and Prescribing Adviser, Anglia & Oxford Region of the National Health Service, a member of the Pain Relief Unit at Churchill Hospital and Coordinating Editor of the Cochrane Collaboration Pain Palliative and Supportive Care Collaborative Review Group.

Last Acts is a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation funded campaign to improve end-of-life care by a coalition of professional and consumer organizations. This coalition works to improve palliative care, focused on managing pain and making life better for individuals and families facing death. Last Acts envisions a world in which dying people and their loved ones receive excellent care and are honored and supported by their community.

S. R. Ghooi, MBBS, is a Medical Consultant in New Delhi.

Gustavo G. De Simone is Medical Oncologist (with Diploma in Palliative Medicine) and Pallium Latinoamérica Association Medical Director and Chief, Section on Palliative Care, Hospital Bonorino Udaondo, Bonpland 2287 (1425) Ciudad de Buenos Aires, Argentina ( [email protected].