Opioids in cancer and non-cancer pain management in Korea: the past, present and future.

Opiate consumption in Korea has risen exponentially, mainly due to the improved awareness of patients as well as the medical community of the need for pain control. As education grows and the numbers of oncology patients increase, this trend is expected to continue in the area of cancer pain management. It will, however, take some time before it reaches further into the chronic non-cancer population. The current situation and problems of analgesic use in Korea are discussed in detail in this article. For the medical community, a lack of proper education appears to be the main issue. The stigma attached when using narcotic medication seems to be a psychological burden for patients. Bureaucracy in the legal and administrative systems hampers the adequate supply of drugs. The importance of proper education for everyone in these areas cannot be overemphasized. As many new health care systems are introduced in the future, change will be imposed upon the medical field. Copyright 2001 European Federation of Chapters of the International Association for the Study of Pain.