Putting the ‘public’ into public health: Innovative partnerships in palliative and end of lifeCare: The Kenya experience

Abstract

Palliative care should not be seen as a luxury, but as a necessary essential service. It should not be only for the few who can afford it, or for those living in better socioeconomic conditions. The Kenya Hospice and Palliative Care Association works together with its stakeholders such as the Ministry of Health, government hospitals, mission hospitals, hospices, and community-based organizations, and training institutions to ensure that there is greater awareness of and access to palliative care across the country. In the past 7 years, there has been a significant improvement in palliative care in Kenya focusing on availability, accessibility, and affordability of services through scaling up existing services as well as integrating palliative care into the public health care system. This paper briefly outlines this development while highlighting the challenges faced in the geographical context of sub-Saharan Africa.

Keywords:

• Palliative care
• Public health
• Integration