LIFE Before Death is a documentary project comprising a feature film, a one-hour television program and 50 short films about the global crisis in untreated pain and the dramatic life changing affect palliative care services can deliver to patients and their families around the world.

The project is broadly about terminal patients, their families and the remarkable health care professionals fighting to change the culture of medicine to be focused on care, rather than exclusively on cure.

Curative medicine is the cornerstone of national health systems around the world and the primary motivation for many aspiring doctors. While curing patients is unquestionably a key goal, the over-zealous application of cure-based approaches is often at the detriment of patient well being, particularly towards the end of life. For patients with life-limiting illnesses cure is simply not an option.

With skyrocketing numbers of patients suffering from incurable cancer, HIV-AIDS and chronic diseases, a paradigm shift is urgently needed to provide holistic and humane treatment for the world’s dying.
Opiate medications, including morphine, are recognized as the gold standard treatment for moderate to severe pain.

Regrettably 4 of every 5 patients around the world who need these ‘essential’ medicines currently have inadequate access due to international regulatory barriers, counter-productive attitudes towards in both the health and public spheres, lack of relevant medical education, and a shortage of public awareness and political will to do more about this immanently solvable problem.

In addition to effective pain control, studies have shown that the application of palliative care addressing a patient’s ‘total pain’ – be it physical, psychological, social, spiritual or practical struggles – not only improves quality of life and reduces depression but also extends the life spans of patients with life limiting illnesses.