Palliative care development in South America: a focus on Argentina.
Many Latin American and Caribbean national health systems mainly focus on disease prevention, prenatal assistance, undernourishment, etc. They still do not have the conditions for developing palliative care (PC). In general, quality of life during the dying process is poor, with fragmented assistance, uncontrolled suffering, poor communication between professionals, patients, and families, and a great burden on family caregivers. The development of PC in the region started around 1981, but it is still not available to an acceptable number of patients.
Wenk
Roberto
R
Argentine Program for Palliative Medicine, Foundation of the Medical Federation of the Province of Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina. rdwenk@arnet.com.ar
Bertolino
Mariela
M
D000701:Analgesics, Opioid / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001118:Argentina; D001244:Association; D004501:Education, Medical; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006801:Humans; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D010166:Palliative Care / Q000191:economics / Q000458:organization & administration*; D000078329:Workforce
D000701:Analgesics, Opioid