title: Innovation can improve and expand aspects of end-of-life care in low- and middle-income countries.
abstract: Provision for end-of-life care around the world is widely variable and often poor, which leads to millions of deaths each year among people without access to essential aspects of care. However, some low- and middle-income countries have improved specific aspects of end-of-life care using innovative strategies and approaches such as international partnerships, community-based programs, and philanthropic initiatives. This article reviews the state of current global end-of-life care and examines how innovation has improved end-of-life care in Nigeria, Uganda, India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, and Jordan. Specifically, we examine how opioids have been made more available for the treatment of pain, and how training and education programs have expanded the provision of care to the dying population. Finally, we recommend actions that policy makers and individuals can take to improve end-of-life care, regardless of the income level in a country.
authors.affiliation: Mark R. Steedman (m.steedman@imperial.ac.uk) is policy fellow for the End of Life Care Forum at the World Innovation Summit for Health (WISH), Qatar Foundation, and Global Health Programme manager of the Institute of Global Health Innovation, Imperial College London, in the United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Mark R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Steedman
authors.affiliation: Thomas Hughes-Hallett is chair of the End of Life Care Forum at WISH, Qatar Foundation, and executive chair of the Institute of Global Health Innovation, Imperial College London.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hughes-Hallett
authors.affiliation: Felicia Marie Knaul is a member of the End of Life Care Forum at WISH, Qatar Foundation; founding president of Tómatelo a Pecho AC; senior economist for the Mexican Health Foundation, in Mexico City; director of the Harvard Global Equity Initiative, Harvard University; and an associate professor at Harvard Medical School, in Boston, Massachusetts.
authors.forename: Felicia Marie
authors.initials: FM
authors.lastname: Knaul
authors.affiliation: Alexander Knuth is medical director at the National Center for Cancer Care and Research, in Doha, Qatar.
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Knuth
authors.affiliation: Omar Shamieh is chair of the Department of Palliative Care at King Hussein Cancer Center, in Amman, Jordan.
authors.forename: Omar
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Shamieh
authors.affiliation: Ara Darzi is executive chair of WISH, Qatar Foundation, and director of the Institute of Global Health Innovation, Imperial College London.
authors.forename: Ara
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Darzi
mesh_terms: D001459:Bangladesh; D003906:Developing Countries; D004059:Diffusion of Innovation; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D007597:Jordan; D002052:Myanmar; D009549:Nigeria; D058996:Quality Improvement; D013727:Terminal Care / Q000639:trends*; D014454:Uganda
keywords: Access To Care; Elderly; International/global health studies; Quality Of Care