Consensus statement for palliative care integration into health systems in Africa: “Palliative Care for Africa”
According to World Health Organization (WHO) and other sources, Africa, with 12% of the world’s population, carries 70% of the HIV burden and sees 1.2 million of its citizens die every year. Almost 80% of the HIV infected people with TB live in Africa. Overall, the African region carries 24% of the global TB burden and has the highest rates of cases and deaths per capita. During 2011 there were 1.4 million TB deaths worldwide;
According to the same sources, more than 80% of all cancer patients in Africa present too late for any curative treatment approaches;
The WHO definition of palliative care focuses on reducing pain and suffering by implementing the required approaches, and the African Union (AU) Declaration on Non-communicable Diseases (NCDs) recognises the need for palliative care;