Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-5b777bbd6c-7sgmh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-06-19T02:13:04.066Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Chapter 86 - Approach to Palliative Care in Cancer Patients

from Section 12 - Cancer and Palliative Care

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 June 2025

By
Eddie Mwebesa ,
Zipporah Ali ,
Elizabeth Namukwaya ,
Emmanuel B.K. Luyirika ,
Israel K. Kolawole ,
Joan Marston  and
Olaitan A. Soyannwo
Edited by
David Mabey ,
Martin W. Weber ,
Moffat Nyirenda ,
Dorothy Yeboah-Manu ,
Jackson Orem ,
Laura Benjamin ,
Michael Marks  and
Nicholas A. Feasey
David Mabey
Affiliation:
London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
Martin W. Weber
Affiliation:
World Health Organization
Moffat Nyirenda
Affiliation:
London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
Dorothy Yeboah-Manu
Affiliation:
Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, University of Ghana
Jackson Orem
Affiliation:
Uganda Cancer Institute, Kampala
Laura Benjamin
Affiliation:
University College London
Michael Marks
Affiliation:
London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
Nicholas A. Feasey
Affiliation:
Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine
Get access

Summary

The World Health Organization defines palliative care as ‘an approach that improves the quality of life of patients and their families facing the problems associated with life-threatening illness, through the prevention and relief of suffering by means of early identification, impeccable assessment and treatment of pain and other problems, physical, psychosocial and spiritual’ (WHO 2003).

Type
Chapter
Information
Principles of Medicine in Africa , pp. 983 - 989
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2025

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Book purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

References

Abdel-Wahab, M, Bourque, J-M, Pynda, Y et al. (2013). Status of radiotherapy resources in Africa: an International Atomic Energy Agency analysis. Lancet Oncol 14(4): e168–e175. doi: 10.1016/S1470-2045(12)70532-6.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Downing, J, Batuli, M, Kivumbi, G et al. (2016). A palliative care link nurse programme in Mulago Hospital, Uganda: an evaluation using mixed methods. BMC Palliative Care 15, no. 1: 40.10.1186/s12904-016-0115-6CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Habtamu, AA (2019). Palliative Care in HIV/AIDS. doi: 10.5772/intechopen.85847. www.intechopen.com/books/palliative-care/palliative-care-in-hiv-aids.Google Scholar
Hain, R, Goldman, A, Rapoport, A, Meiring, M (2020). Oxford textbook of palliative care for children. 3rd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
IAHPC (2018). Global Consensus based palliative care definition. https://hospicecare.com/what-we-do/projects/consensus-based-definition-of-palliative-care/definition/.Google Scholar
Krakauer, E (2018). Integrating palliative care and symptom relief into the response to humanitarian emergencies and crises: a WHO guide. Geneva: WHO.Google Scholar
Mamas, MA, Sperrin, M, Watson, MC et al. (2017). Do patients have worse outcomes in heart failure than in cancer? A primary care-based cohort study with 10-year follow-up in Scotland. Eur J Heart Fail 19(9): 1095–1104. doi: 10.1002/ejhf.822.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marston, J, Coghlan, R, Doherty, M et al. (2020). Refugee camps and briefing note. Palliative care in humanitarian crises. Palliative Care in the Covid-19 Pandemic Series. www.globalpalliativecare.org.Google Scholar
Merriman, A, Mwebesa, E, Katabira, E (2012). Palliative medicine: pain and symptom control in cancer and/ or HIV/ AIDS patients in Uganda and other African countries. 5th ed. Kampala: Uprise Graphics.Google Scholar
Ong, CK, Forbes, D (2005). Embracing Cicely Saunders’s concept of total pain. Br Med J. doi: 10.1136/bmj.331.7516.576-d.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Petersen, E, Petrosillo, N, Koopmans, M et al. (2018). Emerging infections – an increasingly important topic: review by the Emerging Infections Task Force. Clin Microbiol Infect 24: 369–375.10.1016/j.cmi.2017.10.035CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sepulveda, C, Habiyambere, V, Amandue, J et al. (2003). Quality care at end of life in Africa. Br Med J 327: 209–213.10.1136/bmj.327.7408.209CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stjernswärd, J, Foley, KM, Ferris, FD (2007). The public health strategy for palliative care. J Pain Symptom Manage 33(5): 486–493.10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2007.02.016CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Vargas-Schaffer, G (2010). L’Échelle analgésique de l’OMS convient-elle toujours? Vingt-quatre années d’expérience. Canadian Family Physician, 514. College of Family Physicians of Canada. www.cfp.ca.Google Scholar
WHO (1990). Cancer pain relief and palliative care. Technical Report Series. Geneva: WHO.Google Scholar
WHO (2003). Palliative care. Geneva: WHO.Google Scholar
WHO (2012). Guidelines on the pharmacological treatment of persisting pain in children with medical illnesses. Geneva: WHO.Google Scholar
WHPCA (2020). Worldwide Hospice Palliative Care Alliance Global Atlas of Palliative Care. 2nd ed. www.thewhpca.org/resources/global-atlas-on-end-of-life-care.Google Scholar
Cherny, N, Fallon, M, Kaasa, S et al. (eds) (2015). Oxford textbook of palliative medicine, 5th ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press.10.1093/med/9780199656097.001.0001CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pain and symptom control in the cancer and/or AIDS patient in Uganda and other African countries. 5th ed. (2012). Hospice Africa Uganda.Google Scholar
Twycross, R, Wilcock, A, Stark-Toller, C (eds) (2009). Symptom management in advanced cancer. 4th ed. www.palliativedrugs.com.Google Scholar
Cherny, N, Fallon, M, Kaasa, S et al. (eds) (2015). Oxford textbook of palliative medicine, 5th ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press.10.1093/med/9780199656097.001.0001CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pain and symptom control in the cancer and/or AIDS patient in Uganda and other African countries. 5th ed. (2012). Hospice Africa Uganda.Google Scholar
Twycross, R, Wilcock, A, Stark-Toller, C (eds) (2009). Symptom management in advanced cancer. 4th ed. www.palliativedrugs.com.Google Scholar

Recommended Texts

Cherny, N, Fallon, M, Kaasa, S et al. (eds) (2015). Oxford textbook of palliative medicine, 5th ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press.10.1093/med/9780199656097.001.0001CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pain and symptom control in the cancer and/or AIDS patient in Uganda and other African countries. 5th ed. (2012). Hospice Africa Uganda.Google Scholar
Twycross, R, Wilcock, A, Stark-Toller, C (eds) (2009). Symptom management in advanced cancer. 4th ed. www.palliativedrugs.com.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure no-reply@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×