Four doctors and nurses from Aga Khan Hospitals in Kenya and Tanzania will receive specialised training in palliative care as the two counties prepare to offer the services to patients.

The training to be conducted by Institute Curie, has been funded by a $267,000 grant from Agence de Development to the Aga Khan Health Services (AKHS), an agency of the Aga Khan Development Network.

The eight professionals will be drawn from Aga Khan Hospitals in Nairobi, Kisumu, Mombasa and Dar es Salaam.

Palliative care is a specialised medical care for people with serious illness and focuses on providing relief to patients from the symptoms and stress.

Low-income countries are burdened with chronic diseases, among others cancer, HIV, kidney, heart and respiratory disease.

According to World Health Organisation and the World Palliative Care Alliance, a staggering 78 per cent of the 19.2 million adults requiring palliative care are estimated to be in middle and low-income countries.

“The spread of palliative care culture as a criterion of healthcare excellence towards patients and their families is a universal invitation. It is the result of the work of an entire team dedicated to promote a comprehensive care focused on the patient,” said Dr Alexis Burnod, the project’s key expert.

The partnership will bring Kenya and Tanzania closer to their goal of establishing palliative care services in the region by providing specialised clinical training as well as enabling hospital professionals to establish palliative care units.

“This partnership comes at a time when there is a large unmet need for palliative care within the health systems in Kenya and Tanzania,” said director of Health Dr Gijs Walraven, while signing the agreement on behalf of the Aga Khan Development Network.