Progress and future of palliative care in Japan

Since its introduction in early 1970s, palliative care in Japan has been rapidly disseminated, especially after the enactment of the Cancer Control Act. Palliative care unit had been the mainstream of location of palliative care service, however, more emphasis has been laid on home-based palliative programs recently. Implementation of education programs on basic palliative care among primary care providers who are engaged in cancer care has been very successful. Education programs for other health professionals (nurses and pharmacists) has been developed as well. A few governmentfunded, large-scale multicenter studies contributed to advancement of palliative care. Some of the landmark projects are described in this article.