TY - JOUR
T1 - Middle East Experience in Palliative Care
AU - Zeinah, Ghaith F.Abu
AU - Al-Kindi, Sadeer G.
AU - Hassan, Azza Adel
PY - 2013/2
Y1 - 2013/2
N2 - Palliative Care (PC) is still a relatively new concept in the Middle East (ME). It was first introduced in Saudi Arabia in 1992 and only recently in countries such as Qatar, Bahrain, and the UAE. Although the majority of Middle-Eastern countries, including Palestine, Iraq, Oman and Lebanon are in the capacity building phase, others such as Saudi and Jordan already have localized provision. In the absence of any of the ME countries approaching integration with the mainstream service providers, Saudi Arabia and Jordan are currently setting examples of achievement in the field. There are still countries with little or no known Palliative Care activity (Yemen and Syria). Political issues, scarcity of resources, and lack of education and awareness seem to be the common factors restricting the progress of this field in most countries. In order to improve the suboptimal PC services in the ME, emphasis should be directed toward providing formal education to professionals and raising awareness of the public. It is also necessary to put all differences aside and develop cross-border collaborations, whether through third party organizations such as the Middle East Cancer Consortium (MECC) or otherwise. This review compiles the available literature on the history and progress of the field of PC in most ME countries, while pointing out the major obstacles encountered by the active parties of each country.
AB - Palliative Care (PC) is still a relatively new concept in the Middle East (ME). It was first introduced in Saudi Arabia in 1992 and only recently in countries such as Qatar, Bahrain, and the UAE. Although the majority of Middle-Eastern countries, including Palestine, Iraq, Oman and Lebanon are in the capacity building phase, others such as Saudi and Jordan already have localized provision. In the absence of any of the ME countries approaching integration with the mainstream service providers, Saudi Arabia and Jordan are currently setting examples of achievement in the field. There are still countries with little or no known Palliative Care activity (Yemen and Syria). Political issues, scarcity of resources, and lack of education and awareness seem to be the common factors restricting the progress of this field in most countries. In order to improve the suboptimal PC services in the ME, emphasis should be directed toward providing formal education to professionals and raising awareness of the public. It is also necessary to put all differences aside and develop cross-border collaborations, whether through third party organizations such as the Middle East Cancer Consortium (MECC) or otherwise. This review compiles the available literature on the history and progress of the field of PC in most ME countries, while pointing out the major obstacles encountered by the active parties of each country.
KW - cancer pain
KW - end of life
KW - experience
KW - Middle East
KW - palliative care
KW - unit
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84871650371&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84871650371&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/1049909112439619
DO - 10.1177/1049909112439619
M3 - Review article
C2 - 22495789
AN - SCOPUS:84871650371
SN - 1049-9091
VL - 30
SP - 94
EP - 99
JO - American Journal of Hospice and Palliative Medicine
JF - American Journal of Hospice and Palliative Medicine
IS - 1
ER -