One in seven hospital patients in Africa reports severe pain

One in seven hospital patients across Africa reports severe pain, according to a multi-country study that surveyed 19,438 patients in 180 hospitals across 22 countries.

The findings underline an urgent need for better pain assessment and management in African hospitals, where untreated severe pain remains common despite being preventable with basic protocols, medicines access and staff training.

Researchers and clinicians say the gap is not only clinical — it is a systems failure spanning medicine supply, monitoring, and the priority given to pain relief in routine care.

For South Africa and the wider region, the study adds pressure to treat pain management as a core quality-of-care measure, not an optional extra.