Paper short abstract:

With the increasing occurrence of cancer diseases, patients have to attend urban specialized hospitals. In Tanzania, the cancer centre in Dar es Salaam not only offers high-tech cancer therapies, it also provides the innovative approach of palliative care for those with a terminal illness.

Paper long abstract:

Dar es Salaam, Tanzania's industrial, commercial and governmental center, is one of the fastest growing cities in Africa, and currently home to a tenth of the country's population. The new rapid demographic transition not only accelerates urban growth, it also affects health landscapes. Thus, non-communicable diseases are becoming an increasing burden in Sub-Saharan Africa. Among those cancer stands out with the highest mortality and fastest deterioration of patients, especially where screening examinations are scarce and the diagnosis is often only made in advanced stages. In hope of relief or cure, cancer patients travel to the country's only specialized cancer center in Dar es Salaam. As governmental hospital, it offers free services for the population, and with international donor support also specific and innovative high-tech cancer therapies are available.

My ethnographic research project, conducted between 2012 and 2015, focuses on in-hospital care practices and the questions what comes beside and beyond all that, where the effect of those technologies is limited and cure is no longer an option. My research captures stories of cancer patients and relatives from all over the country, who are longing for help, and entering the urban hospital with high hopes placed in new treatment technologies, but often little chance of recovery. The approach of Palliative Care as hospital service for those patients, addresses physical, emotional and spiritual needs, and is part of these innovative treatment services.