Are We Missing a Bigger Opioid Crisis?
While the US suffers an overdose epidemic, most of the world misses out on painkillers.
Forty-two Americans die every day from an overdose involving painkilling prescription opioids. President Donald Trump recently declared the US opioid epidemic a national public health emergency. Yet in the world鈥檚 poorest countries, cancer patients and people recovering from major surgery often get no effective pain relief at all. Why is access to prescription painkillers so unequal? And is the shortage of opioids in much of the world getting the attention it deserves?
(Photo: View of poppies in a poppy field in the state of Guerrero, Mexico. Credit: Pedro Pardo/Getty Images)
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Opioids, addiction and an innovative approach
Duration: 01:58
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The shocking global pain divide
Duration: 01:04
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- Thu 7 Dec 2017 00:06GMT大象传媒 World Service East and Southern Africa, West and Central Africa, South Asia & East Asia only
- Thu 7 Dec 2017 03:06GMT大象传媒 World Service Online, UK DAB/Freeview, West and Central Africa & Americas and the Caribbean only
- Thu 7 Dec 2017 04:06GMT大象传媒 World Service South Asia & East Asia only
- Thu 7 Dec 2017 07:06GMT大象传媒 World Service East and Southern Africa & Australasia only
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- Thu 7 Dec 2017 15:06GMT大象传媒 World Service except East and Southern Africa, News Internet & West and Central Africa
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- Thu 7 Dec 2017 23:06GMT大象传媒 World Service Online, UK DAB/Freeview, Europe and the Middle East, Australasia & Americas and the Caribbean only
- Mon 11 Dec 2017 04:06GMT大象传媒 World Service Australasia
- Mon 11 Dec 2017 06:06GMT大象传媒 World Service South Asia
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The Inquiry
Getting beyond the headlines to explore the forces and ideas shaping the world
