Almost half of the children battling terminal cancer suffer unduly in their final months of life, and much more needs to be done to alleviate their pain, a professor and expert in the field says.
Professor Michael Cousins points to a Melbourne-based study which shows 46 per cent of these children were reported by their parents to have suffered a lot or a great deal from pain.
The research, by the Royal Children's Hospital and published earlier this year, drew very similar findings to a study of sick children in the US city of Boston published a decade ago.
Prof Cousins said this showed how under-treated pain was an overlooked and long-standing problem within heath care systems and more should be done to address it - particularly in children who could have difficulty communicating what they were feeling.
"Much more can be done to help children with cancer pain," said Prof Cousins, a University of Sydney professor and Head of Department of Anaesthesia and Pain Management at Sydney's Royal North Shore Hospital.
"A major clinical, educational and research initiative in paediatric pain management is long overdue.
"Without this, many children will continue to suffer unnecessarily with major impacts on their future lives and those of their families."
Prof Cousins said there were specialist pain centres attached to only three of Australia's children's hospitals, found in Melbourne and Sydney, and resources were "very limited".
The issue would form part of discussions at the National Pain Summit, a gathering of 200 healthcare professionals, related organisations and government in Canberra next week.
Prof Cousins is also chair of the steering committee of the event.
More information about the National Pain Summit can be found at www.painsummit.org.au.
