According to Britain’s ‘Independent’ newspaper, Mongolia is “a surprisingly good place to die.” In terms of palliative care, the country is performing far better than any comparable economy, and is ahead of several European states with much more developed health-care systems and greater spending power, including Greece, Hungary and Lithuania. It also eclipses several big economies, including its two giant neighbours, Russia and China.

This developing country is punching above its weight in palliative care, the branch of medicine that supports people with terminal or complex illnesses. Palliative care takes a magpie approach, borrowing from other medical disciplines and addressing a whole range of issues at once, ranging from pain and other symptoms to spiritual, social and psychological support.

All Mongolia’s 21 provincial hospitals as well as the nine district hospitals in Ulaanbaatar have at least five palliative care beds, as well as individual morphine dispensaries. There is also a network of private and charity-run hospices that provide palliative care around the capital city region. Even Ulaanbaatar’s prison hospital has four beds reserved for terminally ill patients. The national health service now has to provide palliative care by law.

Today, Mongolia still has the highest incidence of liver cancer in the world. Many people are diagnosed late, when the disease is advanced and doctors can do little to stop it spreading.