Dearth in awareness of pain management in Nigeria

…as Lagoon Hospitals launch Joint Pain School

No doubt, untreated orthopaedic and joint pains including people suffering from sickle cell are quite real and a global challenge several people are confronted with. However, it has been observed globally and in Nigeria that pain is under reported; when reported, it (pain) is untreated, when treated it is under estimated.

It is against this background that health experts believe that untreated/ undertreated acute pain is very disabling and can lead to abuse of pain killers which often overdosed can result to the death of the individual.

Hence, in a bid to sensitise healthcare providers, and the Nigerian populace on the burden and challenges of pain management, Lagoon Hospitals, a subsidiary of Hygeia Group, recently launched a Patient Education Forum-The Joint Pain School.

Making this known to BusinessDay at the launch, Folashade Laoye, Hygeia Group Managing Director revealed that the Joint Pain School is aimed at educating the general public on why human joint become painful at certain times and with age, how to prevent joints from becoming painful and what treatment options are available for those who have painful joints.

Laoye disclosed that the Joint Pain School presents a fantastic opportunity for anyone afflicted with joint pains or relatives of those disabled by joint pains to learn about causes of such painful joints and modern treatment options for alleviating the symptoms.

In her words “classes at the school will largely be run by a specialist orthopaedic nurse and a physiotherapist. They will hold at the Lagoon Hospitals Apapa site on the last Wednesday of every month. Admission is completely free but booking will be required in advance through jointpainschool@lagoonshospital.com. Our long term goal is to launch this kind of initiative nationwide. It is our firm belief that with the launching of this school, the agony associated with living with joint pains will be greatly reduced.”

For his part, Segun Abudu, consultant orthopaedic surgeon, Royal Orthopaedic Hospital, Birmingham, UK, noted that the lack of patient awareness of joint pains is high in Nigeria when compared with the Western world.

Abudu stated that due to the low awareness in Nigeria, people are left with little or no treatment initiatives hence the joint pain school initiative of Lagoon Hospital will go a long way in enlightening the public on how to manage pains.

According to Abudu “Although some progress is been made in the education of those responsible for the management of pain in Lagos and its environs with the Joint Pain School, there is still a lot to do to ensure that the right to treatment for all those in pain is fulfilled.”

There is no gain saying that as pain management remains a daunting challenge confronting Nigerians, there is the need for the Federal Government, research institutions and other key decision makers to support more research in order to produce more effective and accessible treatment methods and outcomes for acute pain.

Furthermore, as global population ages, the number of people with joint pain is expected to increase significantly. In view of this, there is the need for more enlightenment on the dangers associated with the indiscriminate use of pain killers as is the case in Nigeria without the advice of a physician.

In addition, health authorities in the country should devise means through advertisement and campaign just as in the case of diseases like malaria, HIV/AIDS, etc. to educate Nigerians on simple ways to manage joint pains, improve mobility, slow down the damage to joints as well as options of treatment available to solve people’s medical problem once and for all. This in the long run will increase the life expectancy of individuals suffering from joint pains in the country.