Global Cancer Institute Launches Palliative Care Patient Navigation Program for Cancer Patients

BOSTON - Aug. 28, 2017 - PRLog -- Global Cancer Institute (GCI), which is focused on improving survival rates for underserved cancer patients worldwide, announced today that it has launched a new Palliative Care Patient Navigation Program in Latin America. The program went live in August in Mexico City, Mexico where GCI already has a successful Patient Navigation Program for cancer patients.

Globally, the number of adults needing palliative (end-of-life) care is greater than 19 million. Up to 78 percent of these patients are living in low- and middle- income countries (LMICs) such as Mexico. In Latin America, more than one million new cancers and up to 600,000 cancer deaths occur each year, placing a considerable burden on local health care systems and economies. This is in part because a large proportion of patients present with advanced disease at diagnosis, and thus require greater expenditure and increasingly complex interventions in their care.

The need for better palliative care in Latin America was highlighted in an article (http://ascopubs.org/doi/full/10.1200/JGO.2016.005579?sid=...) in The Journal of Global Oncology, authored by Dr. Paul Goss, Director of Breast Center Research at Massachusetts General Hospital and GCI, and several colleagues.  The article describes a critical lack of infrastructure for palliative care in Latin America, including very little use of patient advance directives, unavailability of pain medications, and a lack of palliative care training for healthcare providers.

Dr. Goss explained that GCI's Palliative Care Patient Navigation Program was designed to address this vital need for patients, by improving education and research, enhancing access to medications, and providing guidance for patients and their families that is consistent with Latin American cultures and values.

"We see an urgent need for cancer patients to have access to better end-of-life care in Latin America," said Dr. Goss. "GCI's new Palliative Care Patient Navigation Program will help provide the training and resources healthcare providers need to help patients and their families navigate the difficulties of end-of-life care due to cancer. The goal is to provide a customizable framework that can be used throughout Latin America to address the need for better palliative care."

About Global Cancer Institute

Global Cancer Institute (GCI) is focused on improving survival rates for underserved cancer patients worldwide. Today, cancer death rates in developing countries are double those in the U.S. – GCI is working to close that gap. GCI works directly with physicians in developing countries to propagate simple interventions and treatments that are common in the U.S today, and proven to accelerate diagnosis, access and treatment. Learn more about our programs at http://globalcancerinstitute.org/.