Atlas of palliative care in Latin America

The atlas is the first study that attempts to collect information on palliative care in Latin American countries and highlight the current situation across the region. The atlas provides data on 19 countries, based on a survey of 59 palliative care professionals whose official language is either Spanish or Portuguese.

The atlas of palliative care in Latin America includes a regional summary which finds that:   

• Latin America has a total of 922 palliative care services, with Chile having the highest number of services with a total of 277.
• Home care teams are the most frequent type of service – they are the most frequent type found in Chile, Mexico and Cuba.
• Hospital support teams are the second most frequent type of service – this type is especially in present in Argentina.
• There is an estimated total of nearly 600 palliative care accredited physicians in the region – most (70%) are in Mexico, Argentina and Chile.
• In Cuba and Uruguay all medical schools offer palliative care. In contrast, the medical schools in Bolivia, El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua do not mention palliative care.
• 11 countries in the region have a have palliative care association.

The atlas provides data on 19 countries in the region. It includes a separate report for each of the countries with information provided under the following headings:

• Palliative care services
• Palliative care training
• Professional activity
• Health policy and palliative care
• The development of palliative care.

The main objective of the atlas is to evaluate the development of palliative care in Latin America. Secondary objectives include facilitating access to information and communication between institutions and professional associations and identifying  key people involved in the development of palliative care in each country as well as promoting the development of palliative care in the region.

The atlas was produced by The Latin American Association for Palliative Care in conjunction with the International Association for Hospice and Palliative Care. The project had the technical and scientific support from the European Association for Palliative Care, Sociedad Española de Cuidados Paliativos (SECPAL) and the University of Navarra (Spain). The project was funded by a grant from the Open Society Foundations.