To cultivate a more enlightened group of consumers who will meet a cancer diagnosis with high expectations for quality pain relief, we need to undertake a systematic public health campaign that will inform people that cancer pain is preventable, treatable, and undesirable. The State Cancer Pain Initiatives can do much to provide the public with accurate, balanced information about cancer pain, its etiology, and its treatment by enlisting opinion leaders, challenging existing misperceptions, uniting players from all sides, showcasing good practice, and involving consumers and caregivers every step of the way. Annual State Cancer Pain Initiatives meetings are ideal for inviting the local media, state elected officials, and religious and community leaders to attend. Most successful public health campaigns mobilize society by recruiting a celebrity spokesperson. Pain from cancer is inevitable.
Pain relief forecasts death.
Tolerating cancer pain is character building. Another useful strategy is to broaden the public to include sometime adversaries in prioritizing cancer pain relief in the healthcare system. State Cancer Pain Initiatives should target individuals in critical decision-making positions to challenge their thinking about cancer pain. In addition, every effort could be made to include them in local meetings. When a state initiative gathers for its annual conference, it should invite representatives from the Drug Enforcement Agency, the Food and Drug Administration, and the insurance industry to present and attend workshops.