HONG KONG (Reuters) - Most people who are dying around the world have inadequate or no access to painkillers, hospice and palliative care, according to a report by the Economist Intelligence Unit on Wednesday.

The report blamed the cultural taboos surrounding death, government avoidance of the issue, poor public awareness and untrained healthcare workers for the problem, which affects even advanced countries like the United States and Japan.

While more than 100 million people worldwide would benefit from hospice and palliative care each year, less than eight percent access it, according to the Worldwide Palliative Care Alliance.

"The focus is on curative care, where doctors focus on curing patients at all costs; the US is an extreme example of that," said Tony Nash, EIU global director and key author of the report, which gave a "Quality of Death Index" covering 40 countries.

"There really isn't an acceptance of hospice and palliative care as a viable option, they are seen almost as surrendering once you enter those environments," Nash said in a telephone interview from Singapore.

Britain topped the index with the best quality-of-death care, followed by Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and Belgium. Near the bottom were China, Brazil and Uganda, with India ranked 40th.

The United States was ranked ninth, dragged down by the financial burden of healthcare near death, which reflects the high overall cost of healthcare, according to the report.

Singapore was ranked 18th, Hong Kong 20th and Japan 23rd.