Most people with DR-TB, and many with DS-TB, have palliative care needs. Yet palliative care is in general not widely accessible in high TB burden countries (103). Wherever palliative care services are not yet accessible, the NTP may need to take the lead in planning and implementing them (16). If possible, official collaboration should be established between an existing palliative care programme and the NTP (104). Plans for TB palliative care should include the following:
- a list of palliative care interventions (Table 5);
- an essential package of palliative care (medicines, equipment, social supports, human resources) (Table 6);
- the estimated number of patients to be served;
- models of care that are responsive to the needs of patients;
- regulations to assure access to essential medicines for palliative care;
- monitoring and evaluation; and
- sustained funding to cover the costs of the operation (91)
Table 5. Palliative care interventions needed for people with TB
