Volume 23, Number 10: October 2022
Three IAHPC Scholars attended the 7th international African Palliative Care Conference from August 24-26, 2022. These are their reports, plus posters by other IAHPC members. All photos used with permission.
Best Models of Care during COVID-19 Presented
Rose Gahire, executive director and cofounder, Palliative Care Association of Rwanda
Kigali, Rwanda
The conference was so insightful, especially the Ministers [of Health] session where they committed to make pain management medicines available and accessible to wherever needs it in their home countries. There were also presentations on best models of palliative care developed during COVID-19 to support patients.
Poster: Universal Health Coverage for Non-Communicable Diseases: The Situation of Rwanda
My Abilities as an Advocate Were Strengthened
Tonny Mwabury, MD, Najojo Better Living Mission Association
Teya Teyaneng, Lesotho
This conference gave me not only evidence-based practice, but also the ability to be an advocate for palliative care in the community. I have decided to call on political, traditional, and religious leaders in the community for training as a part of advocacy. I have mobilized volunteers from the community, including primary health care providers, to come for palliative care training. I have also started engaging political leaders on the issues of integrating primary health care services with palliative care.
New Knowledge & Skills Passed Along to Many
Esther Taaka, nurse, Mbale Regional Referral Hospital
Mbale, Uganda
I will share the knowledge and skills gained during the conference with colleagues through continuous medical education sessions that are conducted every week. The hospital where I work is a teaching hospital for medical students, which makes it ideal for imparting knowledge and skills. The knowledge and skills gained will help me serve my palliative care clients better, and I will share them with volunteers who offer palliative care in the community who I also work with. Moving forward, I hope to advocate to move forward with a palliative care policy that has been stalled for a long time, to help my hospital director continue pushing for it during policy meetings.
Poster: Our Success Story with COVID-19 Pandemic Patients
IAHPC members with poster/oral abstracts at the APCA:
- Eunice Tolulope, MD, affiliated with the College of Medicine at the University of Ibadan, Nigeria, is lead author of “Collaborative Effort to Palliative Education in a Pandemic: A case study of palliative care training in Nigeria.”
- Ida Lajabu with the Palliative Care Association of Malawi in Lilongwe authored “Health Professionals Lived Experiences in Identifying Patients for Palliative Care, a Case of Ntcheu District Hospital in Malawi.”
- Oncology nurse Adwoa Bemah Boamah Mensah, of Kumasi, Ghana, is one of three authors of “Cancer Palliative Care Service Delivery Amidst a Pandemic: Ramifications and adaptations from the perspectives of service providers in a tertiary hospital in Ghana.” Mensah was also lead author of an oral abstract, “Caring for Older Adults with Multimorbid Serious Illness: Experiences of family caregivers in Ghana.”
- Glenda Swira Winga and Lameck Thambo with the Palliative Care Association of Malawi in Lilongwe authored “Review of APCA Palliative Care Standards to Develop Malawi Palliative Care Standards.”
- Also affiliated with the Palliative Care Association of Malawi, Fred Chiputala of Lilongwe was lead author of “Challenges Affecting Recovery from the Impact of Natural Disasters by Patients with Chronic Diseases Receiving Palliative Care, Experience from the Impact of Cyclone Idai and Anna in Phalombe District in Malawi.”
Lastly, one former member who submitted two posters, one of which was accepted for an oral presentation, is Germanus Natuhwera, with Hospice Africa Uganda in Kampala, Uganda. They are: “Lived experiences of health professional cancer patients and survivors. A phenomenological evidence” and “Cultural and Religious Beliefs and Traditions Affecting Attending the Clinic for Cancer and Palliative Care in Uganda: Findings from a mixed methods study.”