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Palliative Care: How can we respond to10 years of limited progress?
2024

Palliative Care: How can we respond to10 years of limited progress?

In 2014, the first ever global resolution on palliative care, WHA 67.19, called upon World Health Organization (WHO) and Member States to ensure access to palliative care as a core component of health systems, with an emphasis on primary health care. Ten years on from the Resolution, only about 12% of global palliative care needs are being met. Each year, it is estimated that over 56.8 million people need of palliative care, of whom 78% live in low- and middle-income countries. By 2060, the need for palliative care at the end of life is expected to nearly double due to the rising burden of non-communicable diseases and ageing populations. This report will bring together cutting-edge evidence on palliative care needs, accessibility, and cost, to analyze the success of countries that have significantly expanded access to palliative care through integration into health systems. This report will also use evidence to shape concrete and innovative priority actions for countries at each level of palliative care development, in efforts to rapidly expand coverage of quality palliative care.

In 2014, the first ever global resolution on palliative care, WHA 67.19, called upon World Health Organization (WHO) and Member States to ensure access to palliative care as a core component of health systems, with an emphasis on primary health care. Ten years on from the Resolution, only about 12% of global palliative care needs are being met. Each year, it is estimated that over 56.8 million people need of palliative care, of whom 78% live in low- and middle-income countries. By 2060, the need for palliative care at the end of life is expected to nearly double due to the rising burden of non-communicable diseases and ageing populations. This report will bring together cutting-edge evidence on palliative care needs, accessibility, and cost, to analyze the success of countries that have significantly expanded access to palliative care through integration into health systems. This report will also use evidence to shape concrete and innovative priority actions for countries at each level of palliative care development, in efforts to rapidly expand coverage of quality palliative care.

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Prof. Richard Harding

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Dr. Asmus Hammerich

Dr. Hammerich holds a Medical Doctor degree (Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery, 1991) and a research Doctor of Medicine (1992). He also earned aamaster’s degree in international public health (Master of Science in Public Health for Developing Countries 2000) from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, in United Kingdom (UK). He is a Member of the British Royal College of General Practitioners (1996) and a Fellow in Family Medicine in Germany ( 2000). Dr. Hammerich is specialized in the prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), as well as the promotion of mental health and the management of substance abuse in the 22 countries of the World Health Organization (WHO) Eastern Mediterranean Region, where he has directed the related technical department since November 2015. Prior, he was the WHO Country Representativein Uzbekistan (WHO European Region) and the Deputy WHO Representative in Laos People’s Democratic Republic (WHO Western Pacific Region) for a total of eight years. Before that, he led bilaterally supported basic health projects in West Bengal, India (2000-2004) and East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia (2004-2008). Dr. Hammerich has over 30 years of global work experience in public health (PH) and clinical care acquired in hospital and general practice in the UK and Germany as well as bilateral (German Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ)and British Department for International Development (DFID)/UK AID) and multilateral (WHO) public health country programs around the world (Five WHO Regions except the Americas). He has over 20 years of on-site country management experience in PH leadership positions in Europe, East and Southern Africa, South-, South-East and Central Asia and the Middle East. Dr. Hammerich also has extensive skills in strategic policy advice and technical assistance for NCDs, mental health and health systems strengthening. Moreover, he is part of the senior management team of the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office in Cairo, Egypt. He has a particular interest in organizational development, change management, and communication. Dr. Hammerich is a member of different international professional bodies and has received several awards, in addition to having numerous peer-reviewed publications to his name.

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