The Belgian Pain Society and the international humanitarian medical NGO, Doctors Without Borders (MSF), organized a thematic symposium on “Pain in victims of conflicts, tortures and refugees” on February 21th in Brussels at the MSF premises.
A multidisciplinary panel of experts, including Julia Downing, Patrice Forget, Pierre-Michel François, Judith Kendell, Eric Weerts and Amanda Williams, discussed the challenges and opportunities related to this complex issue.
Various topics were discussed in the format of a roundtable including pain management in conflict areas and pain and mental health in tortured refugees, as well as their unmet needs. Patrice Forget, president of the Belgian Pain Society, acted as moderator of the event.
What’s to come? The Belgian Pain Society and Doctors Without Borders aim to take stock of the outcomes of the discussion and tackling the issue of pain in victims of conflicts, tortures and refugees with a position paper to be launched by the end of the year.
Pain in victims of torture is also one of the topics within this year’s focus of the Global and European Year against pain, which focuses on the most vulnerable in 2019. Below you can find the link to the relevant Global and European year factsheets
- Chronic Pain as a Consequence of Torture: Assessment
- Chronic Pain as a Consequence of Torture: Management
The annual meeting of the Belgian Pain Society (BPS), taking place on May 18 in Brussels, will also contribute to carry on the scientific debate on the topic of the 2019 Year Against Pain, as the BPS annual meeting will be focused on ‘’ Pain in vulnerable populations”.
For more information on the European and Global Year Against Pain in the most vulnerable please visit the EYAP page and GYAP page
