Pain Relief Committee Report 2008-12

The current committee is about to reach the end of its 4 year term. I regret to inform you that I do not feel that the current committee has been particularly successful.

Despite many attempts at communication with the various members, the response has been almost non-existent. It is certainly noticeable that one or two people always “put their hands up” and offer to do the work.

In this regard I must firstly mention Dr Andreus Kopf who, together with various co-authors, produced a superb manual for acute pain management in developing countires.  The South Africa Society of Anaesthesiologists have produced a similar book and my thanks must go to the Editor, Prof Christina Lundgren, and her team. Both of these books have been made freely available for download purposes and I am aware that they are being used in many countries.

The second success story has been the efforts of Dr Roger Gouke and his team. Based on their experience in the Pacific Islands, an acute pain management course was successfully conducted in Tanzania. The outcome parameters were measured and the results were very encouraging. Roger has applied for and been given a further grant to pursue this agenda in Africa and I wish him much success.

I am also thrilled to report that A grant from WFSA shared with the IASP has enabled me to elect a fellow from Rwanda, Dr Antoine Bahati Kabeza. He is soon to arrive in Cape Town for a 3 month period during which he shall be studying all aspects of pain. He will be the first Rwandan with any form of pain education and I am sure will be a benefit to all Rwandans who suffer from pain

Dr Diana Finkel submitted a very comprehensive document to me. This deals with epidemiology and pain management in South America. The undertaking is quite daunting but Diana and her co-workers have commenced with the study and the implementation of her plan. To this end she has also been rewarded with funds to continue with her efforts.

Even though I may have sounded negative, these projects have certainly reaped many benefits and the results should encourage us all to pursue more goals in acute pain management. It can be done!

I trust that the newly elected members of the Acute Pain Committee shall be in Beunos Aires where we shall hold our next meeting. I shall try and implement a four year plan with input from the new councilors.

I wish to thank the WFSA executive for their help and encouragement over the past four years.