TIRUCHIRAPALLI, INDIA:The Worldwide Palliative Care Alliance (WPCA) today (13 February) warned of the huge challenges facing the palliative care sector.
At the final day of the 17th International Conference of the Indian Association of Palliative Care in Tiruchirapalli, Tamil Nadu, David Praill, co-chair of the Worldwide Palliative Care Alliance (WPCA) from the UK’s Help the Hospices, urged delegates to consider the serious implications of an aging population on the provision of palliative care services.
Last year the number of people aged 60 years and over surpassed 700 million and the UN predicts that by 2050 the figure will be more like two billion.[1] As populations age, the pattern of diseases that people suffer and die from also changes, with more people affected by chronic diseases such as heart disease, cancer, respiratory disease and dementia – in turn increasing the demand for palliative care services.
Currently more than 100 million people and their families worldwide need palliative care and support each year. Particularly for people in old age palliative care enables them to live their lives with dignity and independence. However, it is estimated that only seven per cent actually receive palliative care. The need is often greatest in low and middle income countries where the HIV burden is the highest and where more than 70% of all cancer deaths occur.
In his keynote address to the conference Praill commented:
“Across the world, the human rights of patients and their carers to physical, emotional and spiritual pain relief through the course of their illness are finally being recognised. Now we must turn our attention to how countries, including the UK, can implement services in order to meet the ever growing demand for palliative care.”
India is already taking steps to consider how it will support its increasing population. Working in partnership with the UK’s Help the Hospices and Help the Aged, HelpAge India and the Indian Association of Palliative Care collaborated on ‘Project Kiran - Living and Dying with Dignity’. The project identified key areas of development to improve care for older people by incorporating high quality palliative care into existing programmes. Furthermore, the south Indian state of Kerala provides an example to the world of how skills can be built in the community to enable over 70% of the people who need it to access palliative care.
Praill added:
“The WPCA seeks to foster, promote and influence the delivery of affordable, quality palliative care. Through education and training, policy development and advocacy work, we hope that one day all who need such care can access it.”
To be part of the effort to make universal access to hospice and palliative care a reality visit www.thewpca.org
ENDS
Media Contacts:
UK: Zoe Grumbridge, +44 (0)20 7520 8251 / + 44 (0)7881 940318 z.grumbridge@helpthehospices.org.uk
Notes to Editor:
About the Worldwide Palliative Care Alliance (WPCA)
Formed in May 2009, the WPCA is an alliance of national and regional hospice and palliative care organisations, bringing together people around the world with a shared vision of universal access to quality palliative care.
WPCA activities are carried out by a number of workgroups chaired in different national associations and with members from around the world, as follows:
Advocacy – Canadian Hospice Palliative Care Association
World Hospice Palliative Care Day sub group, France
Education and Training – Hospice Palliative Care Association, South Africa
International Children’s Palliative Care Network (ICPCN) – Hospice Palliative Care Association, South Africa
Policy – African Palliative Care Association, Uganda
Quality and Standards – National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization, USA
Research - Palliative Care Australia
Visit: www.thewpca.org.uk
