Cancer is a devastating disease that affects millions of people around the world. It can cause severe physical and emotional pain, as well as financial hardship. That’s why hospice and palliative care (HPC) is so important. HPC is the active holistic care of individuals across all ages with serious health-related suffering due to severe illness and especially of those near the end of life.
HPC aims to provide a continuum of care from diagnosis till patient’s death and bereavement. It also addresses all domains that may cause suffering, including end-of-life care, loss, grief, and bereavement. HPC can help cancer patients live a fairly good quality life, even in their final days.
In Nigeria, the Federal Government is committed to improving the access and quality of HPC for cancer patients and other patients with terminal illnesses. Dr Uchechukwu Nwokwu, the National Coordinator of the National Cancer Control Programme, revealed that the government will review the National Policy and Strategic Plan for Hospice and Palliative Care 2021, which was inaugurated in 2021 to institutionalise HPC services in Nigeria.
“We are very certain that by 2024, we will review the document and then review our level of implementation as a country and see what we can do to improve on it,” he said in an interview with Newsmen on Sunday in Abuja.
He added that the new government’s renewed hope agenda will also translate into addressing the palliative care needs of cancer patients and other patients that need HPC services.
Dr Nwokwu stressed that cancer does not respect any race, religion or social status, and has the capacity to impoverish the richest of all people, because of the cost of care which is very expensive. He urged the public to support the government’s efforts to provide HPC for those who need it most.
