Palliative Care Development in Tajikistan

Tajikistan's health system has undergone a series of complex changes associated with reforms aimed at the transition to a more sophisticated control mechanism, financing, and operation. As in many developing countries, there is an increase in morbidity and mortality from cancer and chronic diseases, including tuberculosis and HIV. Attention is needed by the state for the development of cost-effective palliative care that will be integrated into the existing public health system. A recent palliative care country needs assessment identified the following areas of work that need to be addressed for palliative care to be implemented: educating and training of health care professionals, raising public awareness about palliative care, making essential palliative care medicines available, developing the necessary regulatory documents for palliative care development, developing educational curricula and materials, integrating palliative care into the medical and nursing universities and schools, creating models of palliative care services for home and inpatient facilities. (C) 2017 American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.