The Ghana Palliative Care Association (GPCA) has launched its October for Palliative Care 2025 to educate Ghanaians on the need for palliative care services.
The Ghana Palliative Care Association (GPCA) was established in 2006 with the primary aim of advancing and advocating for palliative care services throughout the country.
The Association was created to improve the quality of life for patients with life-threatening diseases and their families.
As part of efforts to enhance its services, the Association has launched its October Palliative Care 2025 to create awareness about its services and educate the public on the need for palliative care in Ghana.
Addressing the media, the Chair of Research of the Association, Dr. Mrs. Bisi Adewale Assani, explained the purpose of the Association, stating that “it is not just for the patients alone but, it is also for the families as well.”
”So we support both the patients and the families as well as they go through the disease trajectory,” she stated.
She disclosed that the Association works as a multidisciplinary team, as it consists of not just doctors and nurses, but also various medical personnel such as psychologists, social workers, and legal personnel.
Dr. Mrs. Assani explained that it is better to start palliative care early, stressing that it helps to improve the quality of life not just for the patients but also for their families.
“One good thing about palliative care is, those who have actually benefitted from palliative care would testify that it’s always better to start early from the time of diagnosis. We’ve had people who start palliative care and ten years down the line, they’re still with us because they are receiving the kind of support they need ,” she mentioned.
“We don’t just manage the symptoms but they are also given psychological care and we give them social care and support.”
She dismissed claims stating that palliative care is just for people with cancer and HIV, stating that palliative care is a total care for everyone with life-threatening illnesses.
“Some people will say it’s just for cancer. Others will say it’s just for persons with HIV but it’s not just like that,” she explained.
“It’s more beyond that. So we actually have people with burns needing palliative care.”
She also revealed that the Ghana Palliative Care Association (GPCA) has won the bid to host the African Palliative Care Association (APCA) Conference 2028 in Ghana for the first time in West Africa.
”We are working hard to make it a great event Fortnite just GPCA, but then also for the whole country.”
Secretary of GPCA, Winifred Otoo also called for the quick passage of the GPCA Strategic Plan to enable the full benefits of the care.
According to her, the Strategic Plan will serve as a “working document” for the Association, which will push for the implementation of GPCA planned activities.
For this reason, she is urging the government to fasten its processes and also see to the completion of the various uncompleted medical hospices such as the Monsignor Bobby Benson Hospice in Koforidua.
“We are pleading to the government to immediately complete the Monsignor Bobby Benson Hospice located in Koforidua. This is the first hospice in Ghana and it has not been completed due to lack of resources,” she pleaded.
“The government should help us complete this so we can allocate human resources there to prove to the world that Ghana is committed to ensuring quality palliative care services to its citizens.”
On his part, Dr. Hafiz Tahil, Technical Coordinator at the Ministry of Health, who represented the Minister of Health, Hon. Dr. Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, also reaffirmed the ministry’s commitment to promoting palliative care in Ghana.
According to him, as part of the ministry’s commitment, the Ministry of Health has made a lot of efforts to capture palliative care issues in line with health policies.
Dr. Tahil also revealed that most workforces are being trained to provide palliative care services to people.
He says the Ministry will continue to work closely with the Ghana Palliative Care Association to push the agenda to promote palliative care in Ghana.
