More than 80% of all cancer patients in Africa present to their local health facility with advanced disease. As cancer progresses into later disease stages, it is frequently accompanied by pain caused by the tumor’s disruption of normal tissue processes. Despite the significant burden of advanced disease, as described in the 2022 Lancet Oncology Commission on cancer in sub-Saharan Africa, palliative care is not effectively integrated into cancer care efforts in Africa.
Following discussions about oncology palliative care availability and needs in Africa, BVGH and experts from the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital (UATH) (Nigeria) and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) (USA) organized a two-day digital workshop on pain management in cancer patients. The workshop – which featured lectures by clinicians from three Nigerian hospitals, including UATH, Federal Medical Center, Abuja, and National Hospital Abuja (NHA), and specialized healthcare providers from MSKCC – focused on different pain management approaches in the context of the African healthcare system. During the first day of training, two MSKCC oncology nurses provided an overview of general pain management topics, including types of oncology pain, provider roles in managing pain, pain assessments and appropriate interventions, and pain medication management. In an accompanying presentation, a Nigerian clinician from NHA provided insight into how Nigeria’s most prevalent cultural and religious beliefs might influence patients’ experience and perception of pain. The second day’s lectures focused on pain medication addiction, complementary therapies for managing pain symptoms, alternative pain management therapies—in which attendees were asked to participate in a model yoga session—and transitioning medicated patients from hospital to home. Over 470 healthcare practitioners from 18 countries across Africa and Asia participated in the course. Attendees reported positively on course components – with one African participant noting, “I enjoyed the lectures. They were educational and helped me better understand what our cancer patients go through and how best to treat and encourage them in their last moments.”
Following the two-day workshop, the lecturers and attendees recommended an extensive list of topics – such as pain management in pediatric patients, palliative sedation, end-of-life sedation, and mental health treatment – for future training programs that build upon the pain management course and further enhance cancer patient care in Africa.
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