Dear SIP Faculty member,

Thank you for your active and enthusiastic participation in the very exciting meeting. As you know, almost 200 qualified participants came to give their input in Brussels. The affluence far exceeded the most optimistic expectations, despite the difficulties to air travel, because of the volcano ash.

The discussions produced two very important outcomes. Firstly, when it comes to the treatment of pain, the European healthcare community still lacks broad consensus, understanding, as well as common and effective appraisal tools. Secondly, the unanimous recognition that treated pain patients cost national governments, economies and societies much less than untreated patients do.

The discussions also underlined the need for a multidisciplinary approach to pain (including rehabilitation) and the need for better practical education and training for health care professionals – GPs in particular – to improve health system co-ordination in many countries. The need for common definitions, tools and other evaluation systems to improve multidisciplinary and multinational analysis and comparisons, and exchange of best practices also emerged.

The six breakaway sessions were also very productive, as they raised and discussed many fundamental issues for dealing with pain in Europe:

Prevalence and Epidemiology

This workshop found that there is both a high prevalence (12-24%), and a big difference in numbers indicating the need for shared and accepted measurement tools; that there is a need for specific pain and quality of life measurement tools, and that treatment traditions still vary considerably from country to country.

Evidence in Pain Therapy from a Societal Perspective

This workshop found that better education and implementation of pain guidelines is necessary, better tools for assessing the quality of life are needed, and that manufacturers should take into account the needs of reimbursement authorities by comparing new medicines directly with the standard treatment on clinically relevant outcome measures.

Impact of Pain on Society

This workshop found that pain has the greatest impact on quality of life irrespective of disease. It also stated there is low consensus of chronic pain across EU health care community, that the high prevalence and impact of pain and its treatment should be recognised as a health quality indicator, and that there is a need to better make aware policy-makers and “payers” that treated patients cost less than untreated patients.

Health Economic Models on Pain Treatment

This workshop found that there is a need for more detailed epidemiological study on the prevalence of different chronic pain syndromes and that the education of the public and healthcare professionals is paramount.

Cost Related to Pain

This workshop found that more relevant data needs to be generated to enable decision-makers to increase funding for pain treatment and that more data needs to be made available in such a way as to help decision-makers develop global public policy.

Light House Projects

This workshop found that it is necessary to raise awareness of the distress caused and the cost produced by pain within each health care system, that cross-border exchange of good practice can already start to make a fruitful contribution, that it is important to plan for the long term and that a dialogue has to be built with national policy makers.

Raising awareness of pain is an important issue within healthcare systems in Europe, but the indirect costs of pain are usually not part of their direct mandate or responsibility. For this reason most participants – including those from policy-making institutions – affirmed that creating and supporting ongoing dialogue with national and EU policy-makers can go a long way to reducing societal costs and improving quality of life for patients with chronic pain. EFIC is therefore determined to promote and scientifically support such ongoing dialogue on the "Societal Impact of Pain" with national policy-makers, especially to simplify the exchange of information and help the suffering patients.

Since EFIC recognises the enormous importance and timeliness of this topic, SIP will also be the theme of the 2010 “European Week Against Pain” (EWAP) to be held in October 2010. The EFIC has been organising this increasingly influential awareness campaign every year, since 1999, with great advantages for Pain Medicine, at least in Europe. This is why the tradition will also continue this year with unchanged modalities.

Discussions have already started on holding a future symposium on the societal impact of pain as a follow-up, thanks to the excellent results of last week and in light of the positive comments already received. EFIC would therefore appreciate receiving any suggestions or other feedback you might have. Please send it directly to me or the EFIC Executive Secretary (christel.geevels@efic.org). Thank you in advance.

Yours sincerely,

Prof. Giustino Varrassi, MD, PhD, FIPP

President, EFIC®

Medialaan 24

1800 Vilvoorde, Belgium

http://www.efic.org