How to Overcome Barriers to Adequate Pain Management in Ukraine

Abstract

There is a large gap between contemporary evidence-based remedies for pain control and what is offered to Ukrainian patients with pain. Having thousands of people needlessly suffer from avoidable pain forces a consideration of 1) what prevents from their access to pain relief, 2) are their human rights being violated and 3) how can the situation be improved. In order to identify the obstacles to adequate pain management in Ukraine I collected evidence using two methods. First, I designed a questionnaire for the Ukrainian doctors, received approval from the University of Ottawa Ethics Board, distributed the questionnaire among potential responders and then organized the obtained results. Second, I did an extensive literature review to provide evidence from the patients. Then I analysed the provisions of Ukrainian domestic and international legislation as well as the available case law to find out if the human rights of Ukrainian patients and doctors are being violated by denial of adequate pain relief. According to my findings, the barriers to pain control in Ukraine are multidimensional and interdependent. They cause violations of human rights, which are not being effectively defended through the courts of Ukraine. These findings call for a more constructive approach to the development of the Ukrainian health law and policy, which I offer in this thesis.