Browsing by Author "Chukwusa, Emeka"

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    COVID-19 and Palliative Care Capacity, African Region
    (Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 2021) Afolabi, Oladayo A.; Abboah-Offei, Mary; Namisango, Eve; Chukwusa, Emeka; Oluyase, Adejoke O.; Luyirika, Emmanuel B.K.; Harding, Richard; Nkhoma, Kennedy
    Palliative care is included within the universal health coverage goal of the sustainable development goals as an essential health service and is considered a human right.1 The seventy-third World Health Assembly recommended palliative care as a core component within the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) response plans of Member States. However, the neglect of palliative care is a well established problem worldwide. Of the roughly 60 million people experiencing serious health-related suffering who would benefit from palliative care in a given year, over 80% live in developing countries where such care is scarce or non-existent.2 Mortality projections from the World Health Organization show an anticipated rapid increase in serious health-related suffering at the end of life in the coming decades.3 Delivering timely, appropriate and effective palliative care is a pressing challenge highlighted by the morbidity and mortality caused by COVID-19.