Reid Eleanor, Abathun Ephrem, Gebre Nuhamin, Harding Richard, Lorenz Karl, Hauser Josh, Zerihun Meseret, Ayers Nicola, Connor Stephen
Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, USA.
Hospice Ethiopia, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
J Palliat Med. 2024 Jul;27(7):842-845. doi: 10.1089/jpm.2023.0632. Epub 2024 Jul 11.
In Ethiopia, there is a great need for culturally relevant, sustainable palliative care. Profound poverty and limited health care resources magnify the impact of disease in Ethiopia, one of the poorest countries in the world. The impacts of high burden of disease and poor access to health care include physical suffering, and detrimental economic effects. Thus, the potential for palliative care to improve health care allocation and reduce suffering is substantial. An immediate action could include harnessing the infrastructure of the iddir, which are centuries-old, indigenous neighborhood organizations that provide care and support for families during the time of a death. We propose a model of community-based palliative care instantiated within iddirs, in which they are trained as volunteers to deliver basic palliative care. Shifting the gaze of global health research towards local solutions in Ethiopia may reveal sustainable, effective strategies to improve care for millions in this vulnerable population.
在埃塞俄比亚，对符合文化背景且可持续的姑息治疗有着巨大需求。极端贫困和有限的医疗资源加剧了疾病在埃塞俄比亚（世界上最贫穷的国家之一）的影响。疾病负担沉重且难以获得医疗服务所带来的影响包括身体痛苦以及有害的经济效应。因此，姑息治疗在改善医疗资源分配和减轻痛苦方面具有巨大潜力。立即采取的行动可以包括利用iddir的基础设施，iddir是有着数百年历史的本土社区组织，在有人去世时为家庭提供照料和支持。我们提出一种在iddir内部实施的基于社区的姑息治疗模式，即培训他们成为志愿者以提供基本的姑息治疗。将全球健康研究的目光转向埃塞俄比亚的本土解决方案，可能会揭示出可持续、有效的策略，以改善对这一弱势群体中数百万人的护理。
