APCA UK
APCA
APCA works with health care providers throughout Africa to relieve the pain and suffering of people with terminal illnesses.
Annamaria Garöes (34) is helped by palliative care nurses to cope with both AIDS and TB as she raises three young children, including five-year-old Franshial (pictured)
Palliative care in Africa
Although it enables patients to live their lives fully and to die free from pain and in minimal distress, palliative care remains neglected in Africa. In 2007 more than two million people died from AIDS-related illnesses in sub-Saharan Africa. In the same year, throughout Africa over half a million people died from cancer. Few will have died a pain-free, dignified death.
Frequently palliative care doesn't even feature in national health strategies, for several reasons:
- A lack of understanding about palliative care
- A shortage of trained professionals
- Rudimentary health and social care infrastructures
- Restrictive drug laws that limit the availability of essential pain-controlling drugs such as morphine.
In 29 African countries, morphine and other opioids (drugs classified by the WHO as essential for effective pain control) are not legally available for medical use
These challenges are big - but there's plenty we can do to overcome them. We just have to create the right opportunities. The African Palliative Care Association (APCA) was formed to do just that.
Niklaas Coetzee (39) lives with HIV. Thanks to palliative care he can now walk with the help of a frame
"When I see the difference palliative care makes in people's lives, I feel really good - when someone has been suffering, then you see them smile."
Mwazi Batuli, nurse trainer
"It's hard when you're learning - you feel real stress till you master the art of pain control," says Mwazi Batuli, a palliative care nurse trainer. "But we work with social workers, doctors and volunteers with lots of experience, so we share the burden. When I see the difference palliative care makes in people's lives, I feel really good - when someone has been suffering, then you see them smile.
I'm currently training tutors from nursing schools. More people in health care need to be exposed to palliative care. We're striving for its integration into health training for all professionals, so everyone qualifies with palliative care knowledge."