Palliative care plays an important role in health policies, national health guidelines, strategies and budgetary integration:
APCA advocates for the inclusion of palliative care in national health policies, HIV/AIDS policies, national cancer control programmes and strategies. Our advocacy ensures that palliative care gets noticed, recognised and becomes accessible at all levels of service delivery. APCA also works to ensure that palliative care is included in budget allocations for health services and wider health financing plans.
We have provided technical support in the development of standalone palliative care policies, such as for Swaziland, Botswana, Malawi, Uganda, Mozambique and Rwanda, and help provide guidance towards palliative care integration in other health related policies. Technical assistance and tools for review of health policies, aimed at promoting the integration of palliative care are also provided. We also promote activities which aim to include palliative care as part of a minimum/basic health care package in national health sector strategic plans and budgets. To do this, APCA draws lessons from Uganda and shares these with other countries in Africa.