Pain as a Chronic Condition 

Promote the ICD-11 definition of chronic primary pain across healthcare systems to ensure recognition, diagnosis, and appropriate management. 

We call for the full implementation of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11) to ensure that chronic primary pain is recognised across healthcare systems. This should be accompanied by improved collection and use of pain-related data to guide evidence-based policy decisions. Moreover, we support the development of robust, multi-dimensional pain management quality indicators. For example, the availability of trained professionals, access to specialist pain centres, and treatment outcomes, while avoiding reliance on narrow or short-term measures. This would strengthen efforts to ensure appropriate diagnosis and management across healthcare systems, while also contributing to a better understanding of the societal impact of pain.   

Furthermore, addressing the current data gap on the societal and economic burden of pain is essential to inform evidence-based policymaking. We encourage alignment with EU-level digital health initiatives, in particular the European Health Data Space (EHDS). Making pain more visible in the EHDS context would improve the quality of research, support monitoring of care outcomes, and allow more targeted investment in pain prevention and management across Member States. 

We call on the European Commission to: 

• Address the invisibility of chronic pain in EU health monitoring and data collection frameworks.  
• Support the implementation of the ICD-11 classification of chronic pain and promoting its integration into national health data systems. 
• Ensure that chronic pain is integrated into the European Health Data Space (EHDS), both as a public health and research priority.  

We call on National Governments to: 

• Establish national quality indicators for pain, particularly chronic primary pain, to inform cross-border healthcare access and ensure pain-related information is integrated into comprehensive electronic health records. 
• Ensure full and timely implementation of ICD-11 at national level to enable the collection of data on chronic pain. 
• Implement Article 8.5 of the Directive on Patients’ Rights in Cross-Border Healthcare with specific attention to patients living with chronic pain. 

Our commitments: 

• Healthcare professionals, patient groups and researchers to drive the implementation of ICD-11, which recognises chronic pain as a distinct condition, through field studies, clinical integration, and stakeholder engagement.  
• Contribute to policy developments on quality indicators by establishing the most scientifically valid and patient-relevant indicators for pain.