The Organisation for the Prevention of Intense Suffering (OPIS) is working towards a more compassionate global society where no one - human or non-human - experiences terrible pain and suffering that can be prevented or alleviated. We promote solutions to specific causes of suffering and change in societal decision-making to make the prevention of suffering the highest priority.
A key cause area is access to effective pain medication to relieve severe physical pain in humans. In most lower-income countries, terminal cancer patients in severe pain cannot obtain strong opioid medications because of overly strict legislation and insufficient training of doctors. We are working to change things, organising events at both the global level (e.g. the UN Human Rights Council) and the country level (e.g. a recent national conference in Burkina Faso, West Africa). You can find more detailed information here.
Another cause area is cluster headaches - one of the most painful conditions known to medicine. There is strong evidence that several chemicals of the tryptamine class can been used effectively to prevent and abort attacks. But strict legislation makes these chemicals difficult for researchers to study and for people suffering from cluster headaches to try. OPIS is working to promote compassionate legislation that makes it easier for people with cluster headaches to access effective treatments. You can find more detailed information, resources and references here.
OPIS also advocates for an end to the abuse and torture of non-human animals, especially on factory farms - one of humanity's greatest moral failings. We strongly support all efforts to end the suffering of non-human animals and to include them in our moral circle in all decision-making.
We are promoting compassionate ethical governance in the world - where decision-making is transparent, fact-based and rational, and aims to prevent people and animals from experiencing preventable suffering. Much of our future work will be around launching creative campaigns to promote compassionate ethics and helping to design better decision-making systems for society, in partnership with other influential organisations. You can learn more about OPIS on our main page.
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We rely heavily on private donations to help us run our projects and allow us to aim high in our work towards a more compassionate world. We are very grateful for support. You can make one-off or monthly PayPal donations by clicking the donate button below. If you prefer to make a direct bank transfer please see our donate section. Thank you!
Drawings of chicken and human in cages by Iskra Karadzhova from animation in short film "The Battle for Compassion"