Written by Professor Jennifer Tieman (@JenniferTieman), Director, Flinders Research Centre for Palliative Care, Death, and Dying.
Ten years ago, the World Health Assembly (WHO’s Governing Body) unanimously passed a resolution to strengthen palliative care as a component of comprehensive care throughout the life course. This resolution has influenced health policies policy locally and internationally drawing attention to the need to have systems and policies that allow for care across the life course and that address the changing context for care demands.
An early analysis suggested that the key impact of the Resolution was its value as an advocacy tool and its contribution to raising awareness about palliative care around the world.[1] In Australia, the World Health Assembly’s resolution forms part of the policy context that informs the 2018 National Palliative Care Strategy. The aspirations of the resolution are reflected in the six guiding principles of the strategy.[2]
World Hospice and Palliative Care Day is an annual unified day of action to celebrate and support hospice and palliative care around the world. In 2024, it will be held on Saturday 12 October. The focus for the day is “Ten Years Since the Resolution: How are we doing?”
Each year more than 60 million people will require palliative care. The WHPCD toolkit reminds us that
……world and key stakeholders need to realise the urgent need to include palliation across the continuum of care, especially at the primary care level, recognising that inadequate integration of palliative care into health and social care systems is a major contributing factor to the lack of equitable access to such care.[3]
The delivery of quality palliative care is most likely to be realised where strong networks exist between professional palliative care providers, support care providers, volunteers, and affected families, as well as between the community and providers of care for acute illness and the elderly. We all can play a part in building understanding, responding to need and developing the care systems needed for our community. We can make use of resources made available through the National Palliative Care Program to build our awareness, knowledge and skill. We can acknowledge and support those in our community who are ageing, caring, dying and grieving. We can encourage our health and aged care systems to integrate palliative care to meet the needs of their patients, clients and residents.
Saturday 12 October gives us all the opportunity to advocate for better hospice and palliative care services around the world.
References
- Carrasco JM, Inbadas H, Whitelaw A, Clark D. Early Impact of the 2014 World Health Assembly Resolution on Palliative Care: A Qualitative Study Using Semistructured Interviews with Key Experts. J Palliat Med. 2021 Jan;24(1):103-106. doi: 10.1089/jpm.2019.0384.
- Australian Government 2018 National Palliative Care Strategy Available at https://www.health.gov.au/sites/default/files/the-national-palliative-care-strategy-2018-national-palliative-care-strategy-2018.pdf
- WHPCD Digital Toolkit “Ten Years Since the Resolution: How are we doing?” Available at https://thewhpca.org/resource_category/world-hospice-and-palliative-care-day-toolkits-2024/.