AIDS, Cancer, and Palliative Care in Africa
The World Health Organization (WHO) did a needs assessment, a survey, in the late 1990s regarding the need for palliative care in Uganda. Needs assessments and surveys are important for experts and professionals to understand gaps in care and to provide the proper resources to the right areas in the world.
High Rates of AIDS
African countries, unlike so-called Western countries, have to deal with the overwhelming numbers of people who are dying of AIDS-related illnesses. In fact, the number of people with AIDS-related illnesses who require palliative care in countries like Uganda is three times that of those with cancer.
Dying at Home
In Uganda, most people prefer to die at home and the majority of families and relatives are willing to take on the care of their dying loved ones. The problem is, with the combination of severe poverty, lack of proper food, lack of proper resources, and the increased level of palliative care needed, the families are often not able to provide adequate end-of-life care.
There are programs under way in Uganda, however, to help raise the awareness of the need for palliative care, provide education, and to find some funding.
Lack of Programs
In other areas of Africa, there aren't any such programs. Because many African governments haven't admitted to palliative care being a need, it isn't addressed in their health policies or agendas. Unlike the Western world where communities can drive the establishment of a palliative care residence or push for better palliative care in local hospitals, these poverty-stricken countries don't have those options.
Before palliative care can become an effective program in many African countries, the need for it has to become evident to the governments and the establishment of palliative care services have to become a priority. Otherwise, their citizens will continue to die from AIDS-related diseases, cancer, and other terminal diseases in a more comfortable and humane environment.
Cancer Pain
Although much of the focus on palliative care in Africa is on people who are dying of AIDS-related disease, those who are dying from cancer are suffering unnecessarily, in the opinion of the WHO. Again, unlike the Western world, in Africa, people aren't diagnosed with cancer in the early stages where it can be treated. Instead, they are often diagnosed when the cancer has advanced to the point that there are no treatment options other than comfort care. However, because of the lack of palliative care, the poverty, and the lack of medications, even the comfort care, the treatment of pain, may not be possible for many.
The WHO has developed pain action plans that are effective in treating pain in people with advanced cancer at a relatively inexpensive cost particularly for the poorer countries. In fact, using the plans they developed, called the WHO Pain Relief Ladder, the pain treatment could help up to 90% of people with advanced cancer.
Promoting Palliative Care
In order to help raise awareness to initiate or to improve palliative care, the WHO spearheaded a project in a few target countries: Botswana, Ethiopia, Uganda, the United Republic of Tanzania, and Zimbabwe.
According to the 1999 study, the HIV prevalence rates in these countries are:
References:
WHO Palliative Care
WHO Community Health |
