The World Health Organization (WHO) has launched a new, free WHO Academy course on Planning palliative care services. The self-paced course is designed for health system planners and partners, and shows participants how to use WHO's Service Planning, Delivery and Implementation (SPDI) platform to assess the palliative care services that exist today and to design palliative care packages for universal health coverage (UHC).
APCA is pleased to share this opportunity with ministries of health, national palliative care associations, programme managers and partners across Africa who are working to integrate palliative care into national health systems and UHC benefit packages.
Why early palliative care matters
Early palliative care, integrated alongside disease-directed treatment, delivers three connected benefits for patients and their families:
- Better outcomes: improved quality of life, symptom control and survival
- Person-centred care: it addresses what matters most to patients and families
- Health system value: it reduces unnecessary hospitalisations and costs
What you will learn
The course guides participants through using the SPDI platform to:
- Assess current services: map what palliative care is available today and where the gaps are
- Design palliative care health packages: build evidence-based packages of health services for universal health coverage
Who should take this course
The course is aimed at health system planners, policy makers and implementing partners involved in planning, costing or delivering palliative care services. It is free and self-paced, so participants can complete it at a time that suits them.
How to enrol
- Enrol in the course on WHO Academy
- Explore WHO's SPDI platform and the Palliative Care Global Reference Package
We encourage members and partners to share this course widely through their networks.
This course is offered and managed by the World Health Organization. APCA shares it for information only; please direct enquiries about the course to WHO Academy.
