Scaling Up Palliative Care Services in Rural Tanzania

Access to palliative care in Tanzania, particularly in rural areas, is limited. The Continuum of Care for People Living with HIV/AIDS in Tanzania (CHAT) project began in 2007 with the goal of expanding coverage of palliative care services. This was done by adding home-based palliative care teams to 13 existing hospitals throughout rural Tanzania. By integrating palliative care teams into the existing hospital structure and by using community resources, CHAT rapidly built a network of care. Community involvement and proper training of palliative care professionals and volunteers have allowed for an increasing number of patients to access and accept palliative care services and for CHAT to provide home-based palliative care, with clinical backup, to those in need.