THE South African Palliative Care Conference 2025, a collaborative venture among the three leading palliative care organisations in the country: the Association of Palliative Care Practitioners of South Africa (PALPRAC), Palliative Care for Children South Africa (PatchSA), and the Association of Palliative Care Centres (APCC), unpacked challenges and success stories around palliative care.

Palliative care is described as the active holistic care of individuals across all ages with serious health-related suffering due to severe illness, and especially of those near the end of life. It aims to improve the quality of life of patients, their families and their caregivers.

Tarryn Bell of Butterfly Palliative Home highlighted that the need for palliative care has increased in recent years. “Funding is still fragmented, scarce, and under-referrals prove to be a great challenge.

“We call for improved access to holistic care. This type of care should not be seen as a luxury, but a human right, allowing patients to live longer,” she said.

During the four-day conference, there was a call for the need for palliative care to become integrated into all healthcare systems in order to be widely available and fully sustainable in the future for people of all ages.

Dr Julia Ambler, chairperson of the Association of Practitioners of South Africa, who runs a local NPO, Umduduzi – Hospice Care for Children, said, “While palliative care is not particularly sexy, the need for decent holistic care in serious illness is a topic that resonates with many.”

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