Summary:
The World Health Organization
collected data around the world and found that only 1 in 10 people who need
palliative care are receiving it. Palliative care is medical care that relieves
the pain, symptoms and stress of serious illness. Palliative care is not just
pain relief; it also includes the physical, psychosocial and emotional
suffering of patients who are suffering serious advanced illnesses. About one
third of those needing palliative care suffer from cancer, and the other
two-thirds have illnesses affecting their heart, lung, liver, kidney, brain, or
other life-threatening diseases such as HIV and drug-resistant tuberculosis.
Most people need palliative care at the end if their life. 6% of patients
needing palliative care are children. The majority of people who receive
palliative care are upper class and upper middle income families, yet 80% of
the people who need palliative care the most are in lower income areas.
Analysis:
Palliative
care is an important part of the medical process. Noncommunicable diseases
often involve the most suffering and the most common noncommunicable disease is
cancer which involves extended periods of pain and suffering. People in lower
income areas cannot afford to pay for palliative care, and in some cases, it is
not even offered. Palliative care is most commonly offered in more wealthy
areas, yet people in high income areas tend to be healthier because of easier
access to health care. The people who are most at risk of noncommunicable diseases
live in poorer countries that do not offer palliative care. The WHO has called
for palliative care to be an essential part of health care. The WHO has
emphasized the importance of palliative care in their WHO Global Action Plan
for the Prevention and Control of Noncommunicable Diseases 2013–2020.
Palliative care is an essential part of medical care that the WHO is trying to
incorporate into as many countries as possible.
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