Access to effective pain treatment is only available in some Polish hospitals, according a recent survey by the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights. Sixteen regional hospitals and 32 surgical units in district hospitals in Poland were asked about their pain management procedures, and responses from 15 of these institutions show that set policies only exist in some hospitals, and that not all hospitals monitor the number of patients receiving opioids.

The Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights has sent another letter to the Ministry of Health—the organization first approached the ministry in 2013—about improving access to effective pain therapy in the country’s hospitals. The ministry did take some steps in 2014 to improve pain treatment procedures in hospitals, but more needs to be done. In June 2014, HFHR sent a series of letters to national and regional health consultants asking them to take action aimed at improving access to effective pain therapy, including opioid treatment.

According to HFHR, in addition to educational activities, it is also necessary to introduce monitoring of pain management. The organization has also asked the ministry about further steps taken in recent months to introduce an effective quality control mechanism for such therapy.

"From the point of view of an organization devoted to human rights issues, access to adequate medical care, including pain therapy, is an important element of implementing state obligations in the field of fundamental rights and freedoms. Failure to provide an effective system of pain treatment is failure of a state to fulfill its obligations under, inter alia, the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), in particular under Article 3, which prohibits torture and inhuman or degrading treatment," reads the letter to the ministry.