Chronic back pain costs the Department of Social Welfare €500 million a year in disability and other benefits, the annual scientific meeting of the Irish Pain Society heard at the weekend.
According to a report on chronic pain, presented by Ms Brona Fullen of the Ulysses pain management programme at the Adelaide and Meath hospitals, Tallaght, the annual cost of drugs used in treating pain is estimated at €65 million.
The cost of whiplash injuries to the insurance industry is running at €13.5 million a month, it found.
Dr Declan O'Keeffe, consultant anaesthetist and pain management specialist at St Vincent's University Hospital in Dublin and president of the Irish Pain Society, told The Irish Times there was a need for a national strategy for chronic pain.
"Our concluding debate highlighted the need for a national strategy involving all the major stakeholders including the Departments of Health, Finance and Social Welfare. It must include all types of healthcare professionals, the social partners, patient advocacy groups, the Personal Injuries Assessment Board and the insurance industry," he said.
Dr O'Keeffe added that an effective national strategy would provide improved quality of life for chronic pain sufferers while simultaneously reducing costs to the economy.
A recent Europe Against Pain survey found that one in eight people in the Republic suffers from chronic pain. The survey of 30,000 people from 12 different countries found that 47 per cent had lost or changed their job as a result of pain. Forty per cent were dissatisfied with the treatment they had received.
The Irish Pain Society meeting was told of the success of the State's three pain management programmes, in St Vincent's Hospital, Tallaght Hospital and a private programme in Cork. Such programmes improve the quality of life and coping abilities of people with chronic pain.