Anyone who has been given painkillers for a sore back, or a morphine drip after surgery, should consider themselves lucky. While morphine is the standard treatment is most Western hospitals, more than half the countries in the world have little to no access to these drugs. Millions of patients around the globe suffer long-term illnesses in excruciating pain.
Unlike so many global health problems, pain treatment is not about money or a lack of drugs, since morphine costs pennies per dose. The culprits are bureaucratic hurdles and the chilling effect of the global war on drugs.
The International Reporting Program traveled to Ukraine, India and Uganda, to uncover this hidden human rights crisis. The resulting report is "Freedom from Pain," a half hour documentary produced in partnership with Al Jazeera English.
