Skip Navigation


Annals of Oncology Advance Access originally published online on July 17, 2008
Annals of Oncology 2008 19(12):2061-2066; doi:10.1093/annonc/mdn422
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
19/12/2061    most recent
mdn422v1
Right arrow E-letters: Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when E-letters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Disclaimer
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Devi, B. C. R.
Right arrow Articles by Corbex, M.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Devi, B. C. R.
Right arrow Articles by Corbex, M.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Author 2008. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Society for Medical Oncology. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

oncology practice

Setting up home-based palliative care in countries with limited resources: a model from Sarawak, Malaysia

B. C. R. Devi1,*, T. S. Tang1 and M. Corbex2

1 Department of Radiotherapy and Oncology, Sarawak General Hospital, Sarawak, Malaysia
2 Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office of World Health Organization, Cairo, Egypt

* Correspondence to: Dr B. C. R. Devi, Sarawak General Hospital–Department of Radiotherapy and Oncology and Palliative Care Unit Jin Tun Ahmed Zaidi Adruce Kuching Sarawak 93586, Malaysia. Tel: +60-82-242087; Fax: +60-82-242087 Email: beenadevicr{at}gmail.com.

Background: The provision of palliative care (PC) and opioids is difficult to ensure in remote areas in low- and middle-income countries. We describe here the set up of a home-care program in Sarawak (the Malaysian part of the Borneo Island), where half the population lives in villages that are difficult to access.

Methods: The establishment of this program, initiated in 1994 by the Department of Radiotherapy of Sarawak General Hospital, consisted of training, empowering nurses, simplifying referral, facilitating access to medication, and increasing awareness among public and health professionals about PC.

Results: The program has been sustainable and cost efficient, serving 936 patients in 2006. The total morphine usage in the program increased from <200 g in 1993 to >1400 g in 2006. The results show that pain medication can be provided even in remote areas with effective organization and empowerment of nurses, who were the most important determinants for the set up of this program. Education of family was also a key aspect.

Conclusion: The authors believe that the experience gained in Sarawak may help other regions with low or middle resources in the set up of their PC program especially for their remote rural population.

Key words: morphine, pain control, palliative care

Received for publication January 30, 2008. Revision received May 1, 2008. Accepted for publication June 11, 2008.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.