The World Health Organization estimates that 7.6 million people died of cancer in 2005 and 84 million people will die in the next 10 years if action is not taken.
More than 70% of all cancer deaths occur in low and middle income countries, where resources available for prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer are limited or nonexistent.
Yet cancer is to a large extent avoidable. Over 40% of all cancers can be prevented. Some of the most common cancers are curable if detected early and treated. Even with late cancer, the suffering of patients can be relieved with good palliative care.
Cancer control: knowledge into action: WHO guide for effective programmes is a series of six modules offering guidance on all important aspects of effective cancer control planning and implementation.
Worldwide, millions of cancer patients could be relieved from pain and unnecessary suffering if they had timely access to good palliative care.
This module explains how to develop an effective palliative care programme within the context of a national cancer control programme. It is based on the Planning module, which provides a comprehensive understanding of the overall cancer control planning process.
Although this Palliative care module focuses on cancer and does not specifically address other diseases, it recognizes the need for developing palliative care with a public health approach that targets all age groups suffering from diseases or conditions in need of palliative care. These conditions include HIV/AIDS, congestive heart failure, cerebrovascular disease, neurodegenerative disorders, chronic respiratory diseases and diseases of older people, among others.
The principles guiding the development of palliative care within a cancer control programme are very similar to those needed in providing palliative care for people with other chronic diseases.
The production of this publication was made possible through the generous financial support of the National Cancer Institute (NCI), USA, and the National Cancer Institute (INCa), France. We would also like to thank the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC), the National Cancer Center (NCC) of the Republic of Korea, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the International Union Against Cancer (UICC) for their financial support.
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