Multi-disciplinary pain management approach and the cost of pain in Australia

• 3.24 million Australians are living with chronic pain;
• Those living with pain are more likely to be female and of working age;
• Their pain is restricting the activities they can undertake and the work they can do;
• Chronic pain costs Australia $73.2 billion dollars each year including $48.3 billion in lost productivity; and
• Chronic pain has a detrimental impact on quality of life – costing our society an estimated $66.1 billion dollars each and every year.
• If our policy framework to treat pain doesn’t change, then the annual cost of pain in Australia will rise from $139.3 billion to an estimated $215.6 billion by 2050. This cannot and should not be allowed to happen.

According to the key findings of The cost of pain in Australia Report, despite these alarming figures we can make some significant changes to how we treat chronic pain that will not only reduce the suffering of the 3.24 million Australian’s living with chronic pain but reduce the cost of pain as well.