Progress Update: Development of Palliative Care From 2017 to 2020 in Five Countries in Eurasia.

Context: In the early 2000s, palliative care was largely unknown in the Eurasian region. For a period of twenty years starting around 2002, Open Society Foundations (OSF) supported palliative care pioneers in the region to establish palliative care services, train health providers, and advocate for the integration into health services.

Objectives: To report on the development of palliative care in Armenia, Georgia, Moldova, Tajikistan and Ukraine during the period 2017-2021 and explore the impact of OSF's sustained funding for palliative care in these countries.

Palliative Care Development in Tajikistan.

Tajikistan's health system has undergone a series of complex changes associated with reforms aimed at the transition to a more sophisticated control mechanism, financing, and operation. As in many developing countries, there is an increase in morbidity and mortality from cancer and chronic diseases, including tuberculosis and HIV. Attention is needed by the state for the development of cost-effective palliative care that will be integrated into the existing public health system.