The project will increase access to pediatric palliative care services for 30 children and teenagers diagnosed with cancer and/or HIV/AIDS through community-based interventions. Our care model involves home and hospital visits, outpatient department and community outreaches by professional clinicians and trained community health workers. The service is an African model of care in which care comes to the patient in their home and community.
In Cameroon, 29,000 children are living with HIV, and only 34.2% of children less than 10 years old and 32.4% of adolescents 10-19 years old living with HIV are identified and put on antiretroviral treatment. According to the Ministry of Public Health, the incidence of cancer is increasing, with 12 000 new cases registered every year. Today, it is estimated the need for palliative care in Cameroon is for 103,000 inhabitants. These 103,000 people are in pain and need palliative care.
Our palliative care (PC) service delivery is a culturally appropriate and acceptable model in which a community health worker is appointed as a patient advocate in a village to support 2-4 people in PC needs and act as their advocate for services. This information is then reported to the visiting multidisciplinary team of health and social workers for patient co-management. This model puts us directly in touch with the rural population.
The project will increase access to pediatric palliative care services for 30 children and teenagers diagnosed with cancer and/or HIV/AIDS. This will also result into reduction in deaths among the target population. Children with cancer or infected with HIV/AIDS will receive appropriate healthcare earlier to extend their lives and reduce the need for pursuing timeconsuming and inappropriate care on the part of their families.
This project has provided additional documentation in a PDF file (projdoc.pdf).
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