On 29 May 2026, SIP Portugal brought together clinicians, policymakers, patient advocates, and social sector leaders in Lisbon for a landmark forum on chronic pain as a public health priority.
The message was clear: chronic pain is not just a medical issue, but a social, economic, and political one. Speakers stressed that without proper documentation and coding (specifically through ICD-11 implementation), chronic pain remains invisible to policymakers and therefore underfunded.
Key themes across both panels included:
Shared responsibility across sectors. Chronic pain intersects with healthcare, labour law, and occupational medicine. Experts highlighted that insufficient political awareness translates into real human costs, including: poverty, disability, and reduced quality of life for entire communities.
Putting the person at the centre. The second panel focused on care integration and shared decision-making, identifying gaps in legal protection for people with chronic disease and calling for genuinely multidisciplinary care pathways, not isolated consultations.
Prevention as an untapped opportunity. Particularly in workplace settings, prevention remains undervalued despite being where the greatest impact can be achieved.
The forum concluded with clear calls to action: adopt ICD-11 chronic pain classification urgently, develop structured care pathways, strengthen legal protections, and invest in occupational health prevention.
SIP Portugal invites other national committees to replicate this multi-stakeholder model and keep chronic pain firmly on the European agenda.