The state of play
A critical unmet need for end-of-life care in Ghana and across Sub-Saharan Africa
- 86%: of the Ghanaian population are without access to meaningful palliative and end-of-life care
- 63: Average age of death
- 5: Average number of days from a patient’s referral to a palliative team to their death
- 48%: of the population have no National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) or other medical health insurance provision who must pay out of pocket for their care, medicines and pain relief.
- 30%: of the population are facing significant journeys, often on foot, to their local hospital
In low-resource communities in Ghana, the lack of palliative care means that patients with life-limiting illnesses are too often left to die an isolated, painful and undignified death.
“The desire to care for dying loved ones is universal but access to palliative and end-of-life care in Ghana is not.” – Dr Cecilia Akrisie Anim CBE, FRSA, FRCN
“Many families can face loss of income, disruption to education and personal anguish and anxiety, directly trapping them and future generations into cycles of poverty.” – Mr Ernest Ahiaku MB, FRCS,FGCPS, DL
What does it mean?
In low-resource communities, this lack of palliative care services is not only devastating for the dying, but for the community too. The physical and mental demands of care can result in loss of income, and disruption to family life and business, disruption or termination to the children’s education, not to mention personal uncertainty, anguish and anxiety within the home and in the wider community.
“These losses directly trap individuals, families and future generations into poverty cycles with devastating outcomes.” – The Reverend Monsignor Alex Bobby Benson, Diocese of Koforidua
The problem
Our Work
Our mission is to tackle these problems head on in partnership with trusted local stakeholders, to improve the quality of life for patients and families in Ghana and beyond. We intend to achieve this by providing world class expertise, capability and resources to enable communities to harness these skills to provide quality palliative and end of life care in a sustainable way.
Using a three pronged approach, we educate, embed and collaborate to instil leading standards of palliative care into Ghana for positive systematic change.
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