Acknowledgements
Palliative care is being practiced in every culture, and in every ethnic group,
over the course of cancer care. What is new is our deeper understanding of the causes
of suffering of people who face a terminal disease.
This has served as the fuel for the promotion and recognition of this discipline
in mainstream clinical practice. In recent years immense efforts have been
invested in cancer awareness, early detection and diagnosis, which are well
integrated in the overall outlook of palliative care practice.
In the last 50 years we have advanced our understanding from wound dressing
to emotional disturbances, from pains to spiritual care, and finally,
in integrating palliative care into mainstream cancer care.
This Special Issue owes its origins, in large measure,
to the collaborative work between the Middle East Cancer Consortium,
the America Oncology Nursing Society, the American Society of Clinical Oncology,
PRIME, The Ohio Health, and The European Society of Medical Oncology.
The goal, in part, was to bridge the gap between societies and
cultures in the Middle East and beyond it; while the guiding factor
has been the compassion and love to the suffering human being.
All of us shared an appreciation for the close relationship of cancer to hope, belief and mercy.
This Special Issue serves as an update on ideas that have brought palliative care over the radar
in Middle Eastern countries, the US and the UK. My personal involvement in promoting
this relatively new clinical discipline in the Middle East lends me the
feeling of being one of the “midwives” of palliative care in this part of the world.
For more information please visit: Palliative Medicine and Hospice Care
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