Continuing controversy surrounds the extent to which cancer patients should be informed of their diagnosis and its implications ( 5). The optimal manner of communicating bad news to patients and family so that physicians can create maximal understanding and facilitate their psychological adjustment is unknown ( 8). As cancer is considered incurable and a killer with relatively shorter survival, it is the last thing patients and family want to hear as a diagnosis.
Most physicians regard the communication of bad news such as cancer and chronic illnesses like end stage renal failure diagnosis as a difficult issue in clinical practice. Three different purposes of communication are identified, namely: (a) creating a good inter-personal relationship (b) exchanging information and (c) making treatment-related decisions ( 7).Īlthough it is something doctors do every day, communication to patients and family is not an easy job. Communication can be seen as the main ingredient in medical care. That is why effective doctor-patient communication is an integral part of good clinical care in general and in cancer specifically in particular ( 6).
It is a well understood fact that effective communication between physicians and patients and family is essential for the continuation of successful treatment that aims to improve survival, quality of life, or reduces psychological distress ( 4, 5). By 2020, there will be 15 million new cases of cancer every year globally, 70% of which will be in developing countries ( 3). More than half of all new cancer cases and over 60% of the deaths occur in the poorer regions of the world ( 1, 2). Now, cancer is one of the leading causes of death in developing countries, killing more people globally each year than AIDS, tuberculosis or malaria. It was considered in the past to be a rare or less important problem in developing nations like Ethiopia.
Cancer has become the second most common cause of death for human kind in the developed world.
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