The number of hospice facilities for terminally ill cancer patients in Japan remains far smaller than the demand, covering only 1.8 percent of cancer patients who died in this country in 1999, it was learned Sunday.
A Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry panel that recently surveyed hospice facilities nationwide says beds at such facilities should be increased to five times their current number if the nation aims to be on a par with Britain, known as the world's pioneer in hospice care. The panel plans to compile a set of proposals in July.
The first-ever government survey on the state of hospice care for terminally ill patients, carried out last July, said 79 hospice facilities in operation throughout the country accommodated 6,972 inpatients in fiscal 1999.