title: MECC regional initiative in pediatric palliative care: Middle Eastern course on pain management.
abstract: In all the major medical centers throughout the Middle East, there is a functioning pediatric hematology oncology department. In almost all countries, opioids such as morphine, oxycodone, and fentanyl are available. Pediatric palliative care services are still in their infancy and await further recognition and development. Unfortunately, there are still countries in the Middle East where children with cancer are diagnosed when the disease is already at stage III or IV, when the only option left is palliation. To decrease the incidence of late presentation, more effort is needed concerning public awareness, and concomitantly, an urgent need to develop hospital-based and community-based palliative and supportive care services. The initial step in this direction would involve more training of health care providers: Pediatricians, Pediatric Oncologists, Oncology Nurses, and Social Workers with updated pharmacological and nonpharmacological modalities of treatment.
authors.affiliation: Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Middle East Cancer Consortium, Haifa, Israel. cancer@mecc-research.com
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Silbermann
authors.forename: Salma
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Al-Hadad
authors.forename: Shamvil
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ashraf
authors.forename: Laila
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Hessissen
authors.forename: Abdellah
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Madani
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Noun
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Khayat
authors.forename: Hala
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Al-Rimawi
authors.forename: Rejin
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kebudi
authors.forename: Isaac
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Yaniv
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D006801:Humans; D008877:Middle East; D009020:Morphine / Q000627:therapeutic use; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000628:therapy*; D059408:Pain Management; D010166:Palliative Care; D010372:Pediatrics; D013727:Terminal Care
chemical_list: D009020:Morphine