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  • Are we doing enough for our patients with terminal cancer? A moral imperative to step up palliative care practice in Sub-Saharan Africa

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Are we doing enough for our patients with terminal cancer? A moral imperative to step up palliative care practice in Sub-Saharan Africa
  1. Luchuo Engelbert Bain
  1. Correspondence to Dr Luchuo Engelbert Bain, Department of Military Health, Ministry of Defense and Centre for Population Studies and Health Promotion, CPSHP, Yaounde, Yaounde BP 7535, Cameroon; lebaiins{at}gmail.com

https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjspcare-2015-000868

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    Despite the reported high prevalence and burden of cancers in Sub-Saharan Africa, the response from health systems to accommodate this pressing concern has been grossly insufficient. Inadequate trained staff and facilities to offer holistic and proper care remain realities that might not change any time soon with the actual trends.1 For instance, radiotherapy facilities in most African countries are non-existent.2 With most patients received at the terminal stages of the disease, it could be morally challenging for unequipped and helpless oncology staff to watch most of these patients suffer from distressing side effects of medication and especially excruciating pain. Their quality of …

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    Footnotes

    • Competing interests None declared.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; internally peer reviewed.

    • Data sharing statement The data should be made freely available according to the rules of the journal.