News Release

How do people in Africa want to die?

A good death in Uganda: survey of needs for palliative care for terminally ill people in urban areas BMJ Volume 327, pp 192-4 & Quality care at the end of life in Africa BMJ Volume 327, pp 209-13

Peer-Reviewed Publication

BMJ

Terminally ill people in Africa want to die at home without pain, stigma, or financial hardship. Yet two articles in this week's BMJ show how poverty, limited healthcare services, and poor access to pain relief are major barriers to improving end of life care.

In the first study, terminally ill patients in Uganda believe a "good death" occurs at home, in the absence of pain and other distressing symptoms, without stigma, and with adequate finances for the basic needs.

However, in reality, most terminally ill people experience financial hardship, says Ekiria Kikule of Hospice Africa.

In the second study, members of a WHO project to improve palliative care in Africa find that the greatest needs of terminally ill patients were for adequate pain relief, accessible and affordable drugs, and financial support.

Terminal illness often causes family financial crisis because of loss of income from both patient and family caregiver, write the authors.

Special emphasis should be given to home based palliative care provided by trained family and community caregivers to counteract the severe shortage of professional healthcare workers, they conclude.

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