The European Pain Federation EFIC campaigns to improve government policies that affect pain and to raise awareness of the importance of pain, including its management, treatment and prevention, amongst patients and the general public. In October 2022, a virtual meeting of the Advocacy Committee took place to assess the progress on the objectives over the last two years and set targets for the future.
Here is an overview of our objectives:
- Be a trusted scientific partner for policy makers on policy issues related to pain prevention, management and treatment
- Unify and represent the voices of scientific societies in Europe around the idea of ‘pain as a biopsychosocial phenomenon’
- Be an inclusive organisation, recognising the value of all professions involved in pain management, as well as the voice of patients
- Foster the uptake of pain education for healthcare professionals in Europe at all levels of education
- Promote pain as a priority research area, and encourage European and national research funding bodies to include pain as priority area
- Campaign for (access to) multiprofessional and multimodal pain management
- Promote the concept of ‘pain as a condition in its own right’ to empower patients with chronic primary pain
- Engage in an evidence-based approach to controversies and societal concerns to inform public understanding
- Promote the role of physical activity and low-risk interventions in pain management
- Promote improved health literacy amongst HCPs, patients and general public to improve adherence to treatment and better self-management
During the meeting, the following projects were discussed:
- The Societal Impact of Pain (SIP) Platform:
- The Committee reviewed SIP’s 2021/2022 priorities and policy areas, advocacy activities and events, and aspirations and policy goals for the upcoming year.
- Cancer Pain Policy:
- The Committee reviewed the different projects EFIC is involved in under the EU4Health projects, led by the European Cancer Organisation, such as INTERACT-EUROPE, and SMART-CARE. The Committee also discussed EFIC’s involvement in the European Cancer Organisation’s Summit, since EFIC chairs their Network on Survivorship and Quality of Life.
- European Pain Forum:
- The Committee discussed the agenda for their next meeting which was held on 12 October 2022. The meeting covered the collaboration on the EFIC Research Strategy, the multimodal treatment definition project, and ICD-11 roll-out, amongst other topics.
- Plain Talking Campaign:
- The Committee discussed the campaigns activities in 2022, which include the development of a health literacy booklet, and three health literacy video guides.
- On The Move Campaign:
- The Committee discussed the relaunch of the campaign, leaded by Henrik Vaegter. The campaign will be now focusing on new objectives and goals, including an On The Move position paper.
- Opioids Policy:
- The Committee discussed the possibility of restarting the efforts to engage with EU institutions on the matter of EFIC’s recommendations on opioids use for chronic non-cancer pain.
If you are interested and want to get involved in any of these projects, contact our team via secretary@efic.org.
