Half of the world has no access to palliative care

Oct 8 2007

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has issued a guide on palliative care for people with the advanced stages of cancer.

Consultations with more than 70 top international cancer experts has resulted in a guide which identifies effective, low-cost models for countries to adopt.

The guide is being launched this week to coincide with World Palliative care day which highlights the limited access to pain relieving drugs in the developing world.

According to the WHO, 4.8 million people worldwide suffering from moderate to severe pain from cancer do not receive treatment; palliative care provides pain relief and management to people facing life-threatening illnesses.

Dr. Catherine Le Gales-Camus, WHO assistant director-general for noncommunicable diseases and mental health, says there is an "urgent need" for palliative care in cancer cases, particularly in developing countries and the guide is aimed at public health planners and suggests how to conduct a national situation analysis and response reviews.

Dr. Benedetto Saraceno, acting director for chronic diseases and health promotion, says simple and low-cost public health models of palliative care can be implemented to reach the majority of the target population, particularly in developing countries where the majority of cases are diagnosed in late stages.

Dr. Saraceno says these models consider the integration of palliative care services in the existing health system, with a special emphasis on community- and home-based care.

On World Palliative Care Day as many as 400 musical events took place in around 85 countries to help raise awareness of the need for palliative care for the terminally ill.

In much of Africa in particular, palliative care is in its infancy and there is a rapidly growing need for people to be able to benefit from inexpensive pain control.

As many as half the countries in the world have no palliative care and the concerts aim to raise awareness of the advantages of this type of care for people of all ages, from children to the elderly.

According to campaigners the scale of HIV/AIDS adds to the need for much greater access to palliative care in Africa.

WHO estimates that an estimated nine million people worldwide will die from cancer in 2015 and 11.4 million in 2030.