When the editors asked me to write a foreword to this book i felt very honoured but somewhat embarrassed. i am not a physician but i have spent many years dealing with the organizational problems of the care and assistance of cancer patients who have no hope of recovering. the floriani foundation became active in 1977 with a donation from my wife and myself following a sad family experience. the aim of this foundation is to assist research, studies and diffusion of information in order to better the quality of life of people suffering from debilitating chronic disease, the most important of which is cancer. in the past the floriani foundation has sponsored and org.an ized congresses and meetings on the subject of cancer pain relief. the proceedings of those meetings were published and have reached a limited number of people, mainly specialists in this field. it is therefore a pleasure to have been able to help the editors of this book which should reach a much wider audience, particularly among those general practitioners in the developed and developing countries who are directly involved in the treatment of these suffering populations. i hope that the information it contains will be useful in offering support to these suffering patients who still receive very little attention from medical practice.