The Palliative Care Session Interest Group is a multidisciplinary symposium intended to bring together African and international experts in palliative and supportive care, health policy, global, and public health to share experiences, research and data and resource allocation for palliative care, and the form of cancer care in the Africa continent. Speakers will address the impact of biomedicine vs biosocial perspectives in end-of-life care, the challenges and opportunities of Covid-19 on palliative care, the models of integration and collaboration that have fostered or hindered universal palliative care, and the status and recent shifts across cultures in stigma and attitudes to dying and death and to palliative care.

In March 2020, the first COVID-19 case was reported in Kenya necessitating institution of restrictions and lockdowns to curb the spread of the pandemic. This disrupted the access to palliative care services by persons with palliative care needs and their families. The Kenya Hospices and Palliative Care Association(KEHPCA) responded to this urgency by identifying needs and supporting strategies to ensure that those in need continue accessing vital services. KEHPCA conducted a survey in April 2021 identifying fears and concerns hindering health care workers to provide care for those in need, and patients from receiving care. The survey revealed palliative care providers had fear of being infected; infecting their clients and not having enough information on COVID-19 among others. Patients were afraid continuous support for their pre-existing conditions, access to medications, vulnerability to COVID-19 infection. KEHPCA responded to these needs through providing credible information on COVID-19, PPEs to enable palliative care workers to continue care, encouraged and facilitated use of modern technology for communication with patients and families. KEHPCA developed, printed and distributed posters with different messages on palliative care and COVID-19 as well as uploaded on the KEHPCA social media platforms to ensure all are protected during this pandemic season. The Ministry of Health (MoH) and County teams were engaged to ensure palliative care, bereavement and legal support was integrated in the COVID-19 management plans and protocols, and into mental health/psychosocial support for patients/families. KEHPCA was able to mitigate the challenges and ensure that palliative care services continued in safe environments and that health care workers were well equipped with the knowledge, skills and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) needed to provide services, including supporting Covid-19 victims and their families. The role of palliative care as essential service in COVID 19 was highlighted.