The Alliance for Balanced Pain Management (AfBPM) is a diverse collective of health care advocacy groups, patient organizations, industry representatives and other stakeholders who organize to:

  • Ensure people with or affected by pain have appropriate access to integrated, effective and safe care across the continuum of care, and raise awareness of the need for individualized treatment such as physical therapy, rehabilitation, psychological counseling, social support, and other complementary approaches and multimodal analgesia; which can help prevent opioid-related adverse events such as falls, constipation and other potential issues.
  • Reinforce the critical need to safely prescribe, dispense, take, store and dispose of prescription medicines with an aim to reduce abuse, misuse and diversion.

AfBPM’s mission is to advocate for balanced pain management by supporting organizations and individuals who share a common goal to reduce pain, reduce medicine abuse and improve care. This can be accomplished through multi-pronged approaches that address the physical, emotional, and social components of pain. By addressing all of these components, most pain can be safely managed. When medications are required, management of pain must ensure that medications are prescribed, dispensed, taken, stored and disposed of responsibly.


Steering Committee

The Alliance for Balanced Pain Management is led by a Steering Committee and managed by the Alliance for Patient Access. The members of the AfPBM Steering Committee are listed below.


AfBPM Members

  • Abuse Deterrent Coalition
  • Aimed Alliance
  • Alliance for Patient Access
  • American Academy of Pain Management
  • American Cancer Society
  • American Chronic Pain Association
  • American Massage Therapy Association
  • American Pain Society
  • American Physical Therapy Association
  • American Society for Pain Management Nursing
  • Caregiver Action Network
  • Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America
  • Easter Seals
  • The Gerontological Society of America
  • The Headache & Migraine Policy Forum
  • International Pain Foundation
  • Leukemia & Lymphoma Society
  • Medical Device Manufacturers Association
  • Men’s Health Network
  • The Migraine Diva
  • National Alliance for Caregiving
  • National Alliance of State Pharmacy Associations
  • National Association of Chain Drug Stores
  • National Association of Drug Diversion Investigators
  • National Black Nurses Association
  • National Minority Quality Forum
  • National Patient Safety Foundation
  • New York Physical Therapy Association
  • Partnership for Drug-Free Kids
  • Soldier Strong Access
  • Surgical Taskforce Organized to Prevent Opioid Abuse
  • U.S. Pain Foundation
  • Verde Environmental Technologies
  • Veterans Health Council  & Vietnam Veterans of America

Who Can Join?

AfBPM members include organizations directly involved in the care of people with pain, or those that represent the interests of people who require pain management or are actively working to reduce the abuse of pain medication. AfBPM member organizations represent clinicians, pharmacists, industry, veterans, patients and consumers. AfBPM welcomes new members. Members are engaged in a two-way communication flow and supportive of AfBPM initiatives. Member organizations participate in AfBPM programming and are asked to promote AfBPM educational materials.

Join AfBPM