Media release

From: Australian Science Media Centre

BACKGROUND BRIEFING – Monday 12 October at 10am AEDT, online

Event recording now available

Low back pain is now the leading cause of disability in Australia. It is the second biggest cause of total disease burden, outstripping asthma, stroke and even lung cancer. And if you live in rural and regional Australia the stats are even worse. Chronic pain is a major burden on Australia’s health system, but despite the fact that it affects one in five Australians and costs us $34.3 billion, there are no celebrity fronted campaigns for pain, no national health strategy. It remains one of the least recognised, hidden health problems in Australia.

With deaths from the common pain drug codeine doubling in Australia in the last 10 years, and a rescheduling to reduce its availability on the horizon, now is the time to look at how we are coping with chronic pain.

This briefing will bring together a range of experts in chronic pain, to look at the current gaps in pain management and what the future holds.

Speakers will address:

• The current pain problem – What are the options for people experiencing chronic pain, what are the gaps in the system?
• The role of the brain in chronic pain – How our emotions and relationships affect pain
• The future of pain treatment and research – what’s on the horizon?

SPEAKERS:

• Dr Malcolm Hogg is Head of Pain Management Services at the Royal Melbourne Hospital and past president of the Australian Pain Society
• Dr Toby Newton-John is a Clinical Psychologist and Senior Lecturer at University of Technology Sydney
• Professor Mark Hutchinson is the Director of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Nanoscale BioPhotonics
• Professor Lorimer Moseley is Professor of Clinical Neurosciences and Chair in Physiotherapy at the University of South Australia

DATE: Monday 12 October
START TIME: 10am AEDT
DURATION: Approx 45 min