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Abstract

In 1996, the World Health Organization established four necessary measures for the development of PC (you have already put short name) focusing on public health: 1) a government policy that ensures the integration of PC into the structure and financing of the National Health System; 2) an educational policy that responds to the training of volunteer, family caregiver, media, healthcare providers, trainees, palliative care experts, health professionals and the publiccurricula and courses; 3) a drug policy that ensures the availability of essential drugs for the management of pain and other psychological symptoms and disorders, in particular opioid analgesics and 4) a policy for research into assessing the needs for palliative care and identifying standards and models of service that work, particularly in limited resource settings. 1 Access to health care is a major challenge in low-and middleincome countries. According to the World Hospice and Palliative Care Alliance (WHPCA), the majority of people living with HIV/AIDS who need palliative care are in Africa with 78% of adult patients. 2 PC is limited in Africa, however countries such as Uganda, South Africa and Kenya top the list with the largest number of hospice specialistsand hospices. 3