FG told to include Palliative Medicine in health system

HEAD, Department of Hospice and Palliative Care, University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, Professor Simbo Amanor-Boadu, has said that the national health systems need to include palliative care in the continuum of care and prevention of chronic, life-threatening conditions.

Professor Amanor-Boadu made the call at the opening of an introductory course on palliative care for healthcare professionals by the hospital, in conjunction with Centre for Palliative Care Nigeria in Ibadan.

The expert stated that Nigeria lacks a policy on palliative care despite its increasing number of individuals with chronic and life-threatening conditions such as HIV, stroke, cancer, and diabetes that require such services.

She declared that alongside potentially curative treatment, palliative care needs to be provided and adapted to the increased physical, psychosocial and spiritual needs of patients, their families and caregivers as the disease progresses into the terminal phase.

While quoting World Health Organisation (WHO) as saying that 40million people need palliative care globally, she said at least 500,000 of these people live in Nigeria.

She declared: “The majority of adults in need of palliative care die as a result of cardiovascular diseases (38.5 per cent) and cancer (34 per cent), followed by chronic respiratory diseases (10.3 per cent), HIV/AIDS (5.7 per cent) and diabetes (4.6 per cent).

“It is actually the psychological effect that weighs them down even when they do not have physical symptoms such as pain. The fact that there is a dagger hovering over their head is a major problem for them.”

Professor Amanor-Boadu said this was different from the Tender Loving Care (TLC) that many people preach, urging that this mode of care should also be embedded in the training curriculum for health workers.

According to her, “Palliative care is an approach that improves the quality of life of patients and their families facing the problem associated with life-threatening illness, through the prevention and relief of suffering by means of early identification and impeccable assessment and treatment of pain and other problems, physical, psychosocial and spiritual.’’

“We do not only look after the patients, but also consider their careers and their families because if any member of a home has a serious illness, then the whole home are in disarray.

“It is a model of care with the major aim of maximising the quality of life. It focuses on relief of suffering. It affirms life and regards dying as a normal process.

“It intends neither to hasten nor postpone death as well as uses a team approach to address the needs of patients and their families, including bereavement counseling.”