Confronting global inequities in palliative care
The number of people dying with preventable, serious health-related suffering is rapidly increasing, and international calls for the expansion of palliative care services have been made, such as the World Health Assembly Resolution 67.19, which named palliative care as an essential component of Univ...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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BMJ Publishing Group
2025-05-01
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| Series: | BMJ Global Health |
| Online Access: | https://gh.bmj.com/content/10/5/e017624.full |
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| author | Katherine E Sleeman Richard Harding Maha El Akoum Anna Peeler Oladayo Ayobami Afolabi Nahla Gafer Asmus Hammerich |
| author_facet | Katherine E Sleeman Richard Harding Maha El Akoum Anna Peeler Oladayo Ayobami Afolabi Nahla Gafer Asmus Hammerich |
| author_sort | Katherine E Sleeman |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The number of people dying with preventable, serious health-related suffering is rapidly increasing, and international calls for the expansion of palliative care services have been made, such as the World Health Assembly Resolution 67.19, which named palliative care as an essential component of Universal Health Coverage. Despite this, only about 14% of all palliative care need globally is met today, and health systems around the world are unprepared to meet the growing need. Palliative care has been shown to improve patient, caregiver and health-system outcomes and reduce costs for many populations and contexts. Geographic, social, cultural and health-literacy related inequities in access to and quality of palliative care services persist. We provide evidence-based recommendations which require immediate, coordinated action to improve progress towards achieving equitable access to high-quality palliative care for all. These include but are not limited to ensuring every country has palliative care codified into national health policy; providing evidence-based, basic palliative care education and training for all non-specialist healthcare workers; empowering and facilitating community action in research and service development; and ensuring that all essential palliative care medicines are available for those who need them. Unless urgent, evidence-based, coordinated action is taken, countries, health systems, and communities will fail to meet the growing palliative care demand, and millions of people around the world will experience preventable suffering. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-54d21828ffc84380a592de1ef7947eb1 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2059-7908 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-05-01 |
| publisher | BMJ Publishing Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMJ Global Health |
| spelling | doaj-art-54d21828ffc84380a592de1ef7947eb12025-08-20T02:30:38ZengBMJ Publishing GroupBMJ Global Health2059-79082025-05-0110510.1136/bmjgh-2024-017624Confronting global inequities in palliative careKatherine E Sleeman0Richard Harding1Maha El Akoum2Anna Peeler3Oladayo Ayobami Afolabi4Nahla Gafer5Asmus Hammerich6Cicely Saunders Institute of Palliative Care, Policy, and Rehabilitation, King’s College London Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing Midwifery & Palliative Care, London, UKCicely Saunders Institute of Palliative Care, Policy, and Rehabilitation, King’s College London Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing Midwifery & Palliative Care, London, UKWorld Innovation Summit for Health, Doha, QatarCicely Saunders Institute of Palliative Care, Policy, and Rehabilitation, King’s College London Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing Midwifery & Palliative Care, London, UKCicely Saunders Institute of Palliative Care, Policy, and Rehabilitation, King’s College London Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing Midwifery & Palliative Care, London, UKWorld Health Organisation Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean, Cairo, EgyptWorld Health Organisation Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean, Cairo, EgyptThe number of people dying with preventable, serious health-related suffering is rapidly increasing, and international calls for the expansion of palliative care services have been made, such as the World Health Assembly Resolution 67.19, which named palliative care as an essential component of Universal Health Coverage. Despite this, only about 14% of all palliative care need globally is met today, and health systems around the world are unprepared to meet the growing need. Palliative care has been shown to improve patient, caregiver and health-system outcomes and reduce costs for many populations and contexts. Geographic, social, cultural and health-literacy related inequities in access to and quality of palliative care services persist. We provide evidence-based recommendations which require immediate, coordinated action to improve progress towards achieving equitable access to high-quality palliative care for all. These include but are not limited to ensuring every country has palliative care codified into national health policy; providing evidence-based, basic palliative care education and training for all non-specialist healthcare workers; empowering and facilitating community action in research and service development; and ensuring that all essential palliative care medicines are available for those who need them. Unless urgent, evidence-based, coordinated action is taken, countries, health systems, and communities will fail to meet the growing palliative care demand, and millions of people around the world will experience preventable suffering.https://gh.bmj.com/content/10/5/e017624.full |
| spellingShingle | Katherine E Sleeman Richard Harding Maha El Akoum Anna Peeler Oladayo Ayobami Afolabi Nahla Gafer Asmus Hammerich Confronting global inequities in palliative care BMJ Global Health |
| title | Confronting global inequities in palliative care |
| title_full | Confronting global inequities in palliative care |
| title_fullStr | Confronting global inequities in palliative care |
| title_full_unstemmed | Confronting global inequities in palliative care |
| title_short | Confronting global inequities in palliative care |
| title_sort | confronting global inequities in palliative care |
| url | https://gh.bmj.com/content/10/5/e017624.full |
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