The Need for Palliative Care During COVID-19 Pandemic in Iran; a Letter to Editor

Abstract

According to the International Association for Hospice and Palliative Care (IAHPC), palliative care is the active holistic care of people with serious health-related suffer- ing due to severe illness, especially those near the end of life (1). The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that about 20 million people worldwide need end-of-life palliative care services each year, about 80% of whom live in low and middle-income countries (2). Providing pallia- tive care improves the quality of life while reducing health care costs (3). Access to palliative care, as a pain relief pro- cedure, is a human right. Palliative care is very effective in relieving the pain and suffering of people with a life- threatening illness. However, millions of people around the world cannot access palliative care, which can lead to severe pain and suffering (4). Therefore, developing pallia- tive care is valuable for health systems in terms of many aspects.