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EXECUTIVE Director of the African Palliative Care Foundation (APCA), Dr Emmanuel Luyirika, said the burden for palliative care services in Africa is large, with people with HIV/AIDS, cancer, injuries, and poisoning ranking highest among those with unmet needs throughout the continent. Luyirika, the keynote speaker at a symposium to celebrate 20 years of the Centre for Palliative Care, Nigeria (CPCN), said missing components of palliative care services in Africa include inpatient and outpatient hospice care, multidisciplinary staff teams, access to assistive devices, and technologies including radiotherapy for palliative purposes. According to him, Africa is still far behind Europe and other continents in palliative care development and should deploy technology to build systems that are resilient and that can help patients and their families to be better despite the illness. Luyirika stated, “We can adopt technology as we build resilience in the palliative care to enhance remote access through telehealth, especially in countries where we do not have enough manpower and transport capacity. “Through telehealth, we can provide continuous patient monitoring, we can improve communication between patients and their families, and even the health report can actually be deployed in this case. And therefore, we can improve the quality of life and efficiency through reduced hospital and hospice visits.” The expert also reiterated the need for African governments to dedicate adequate resources to palliative care education, research and programming, as well as universities refraining from pulling palliative care out of revised curricula for training health practitioners. President of CPCN, Professor Olaitan Soyannwo, in her opening address, said estimates of people in need of palliative care worldwide are 56.8 million, including 25.7 million in the last year of life, with only about 12 per cent of the need for palliative care met. Soyannwo said up to 70 per cent of people living with serious illnesses that require this specialised medical care come late to hospital due to various reasons, including lack of knowledge, wrong beliefs, fear, financial issues, distance from health facilities and wrong advice. According to her, serious illnesses that sometimes might be persistent, life-threatening or even life-limiting, like cancer, HIV/AIDS, sickle cell disease, stroke and organ failure like kidney and liver, require palliative care. “So, palliative care is focused on providing relief from the symptoms and stress of serious illness. The goal is to provide relief of distress and support and improve quality of life for both the patient and the family. Palliative care is based on the needs of the patient, not on the patient’s prognosis,” she said. Soyannwo said that development of palliative care in Nigeria has been driven by a few dedicated professionals since 1993, noting that the focus of CPCN in the next decade will include palliative care for the elderly and non-cancer illnesses. Chief Medical Director of University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, Professor Jesse Otegbayo, commended the visionary leadership of Prof Olaitan Soyannwo on shaping policy, training, and awareness on palliative care across the continent. “CPCN has reminded us all of the need for compassion, dignity, and support – especially when cures are no longer possible. It has brought attention to pain management, psychosocial support, and the importance of listening to our patients,” he said. Professor Otegbayo therefore reaffirmed UCH’s commitment to CPCN’s mission and to ensuring that palliative care becomes fully integrated into health delivery systems and that no Nigerian is left to suffer needlessly. Oyo State Commissioner for Health Dr Oluwaserimi Ajetunmobi, represented by a permanent secretary at the ministry, Dr Tunde Aremu, urged CPCN to set goals to ensure that the organization remains in perpetuity and to reach the younger generation with the message on palliative care.
