The first pain and palliative care unit in mozambique: howit all began?

Abstract

Background: Access to health care is a major challenge in low- and middle-income countries. Dispite its limitation in Africa, countries such as Uganda, South Africa and Kenya top the list with the largest number of specialist hospices. Although there are Palliative Care (PC) Policies in Mozambique since 2012 which are approved by the Ministry of Health that provide for the integration of this care at all levels. However, there was no integration into the National Health System, until 2017. One of the necessary measures for the development of PC in a country is the integration of PC into the structure and financing of the National Health System. The process of implementing PC in Mozambique begun in 2009 with the creation of the Mozambican Palliative Care´s Association, PC Policies, the Curriculum Design and PC Reference Manual in 2012, and the Mozambican Pain Study Association in 2013. In response to the progressive increase in HIV/AIDS patients, and particularly those with cancer with palliative needs and suffering. In the main hospital of the country, in the Pain Unit, Palliative Care Service was oppened in September 2019 resulting in the Pain and Palliative Care Unit. It has multidisciplinary specialized professionals team, the first in Portuguese-speaking African countries. However, the similarity to many other countries with few resources, access and availability of opioids was a harsh reality. Conclusion: Mozambique was the first Portuguese-speaking African Country to create a Pain and Palliative Care Unit with a specialized team. However, access and availability of opioid drugs is one of the major challenges.