Access to the treatment with opioid analgesics in Poland – on the basis of a Conference “ATOME: Polish National Symposium on Access to Opioid Medication”

Opioid availability in Poland is an important issue in pain management of patients, especially in those with chronic pain as well as from a point of view of possible harm associated with opioid use. In this article current situation regarding opioid availability for cancer and non-cancer patients and the problem of opioid dependence was depicted. The base of this article is a Conference entitled “Polish National Symposium on Access to Opioid Medication” held in as part of the 7th Framework Project of the European Union “ATOME” that was aimed for an improvement of opioid availability and harm reduction in Central-Eastern European countries. Several changes were proposed from one hand at improvement of opioid availability for patients who require such a treatment and from the other hand directed at limiting inappropriate use and a decrease of a risk of an addiction development. The necessity of a close cooperation of those who treat patients with opioids and subjects involved in the management of opioid addiction, patients and families with governors who elaborate law regulations regarding opioid use was emphasized. Authors of this article recommend for opioids that are used for the treatment of pain and other symptoms which are often called publicly and in legal documents “narcotic” and “stupefacient” the use of a term “opioid analgesics”.