research assesses the development palliative care in Africa based on the WHO’s new conceptual map

A assessment and up-to-date assessment of development palliative care in Africa based on the World Health Organization’s (WHO) new conceptual map. This is the result the thesis recently defended by Fernanda Vieira Bastos, a researcher at the ATLANTES Global Palliative Care Observatory at Institute for Culture and Society ICS) of the University of Navarra. The research, supervised by Drs. Carlos Centeno and Vilma Tripodoro, reveals that development this field is “heterogeneous, nonlinear, and structurally fragile, with uneven growth.” In fact, although an expansion is evident and 902 specialized services have already been identified, these remain insufficient to care for the more than 17 million people who need this care.

Vieira had worked until December 2022 as a palliative care physician in hospitals in São Paulo, Brazil, and decided to begin her research motivated by “the desire to diversify and expand the way palliative care is practiced” and to “gain international experience and strengthen my profile a professor and mentor to students and residents by development research development research generating knowledge.”

New Methodology

To collect the data her research, she employed a new methodology: “Before completing the questionnaire , participants took an online course on the topic, the indicators, and the sources they were to use to collect data their respective countries. Our goal was to improve the quality of the information and provide training international certification.” The methodology was adapted and refined as various challenges arose, particularly regarding the educational platform, language connectivity issues faced by many African regions.

The study also found that “community culture is one of the key factors facilitating the development palliative care.” In this regard, the researcher notes that “there are many volunteers and citizens willing to contribute by supporting and expanding the work palliative care teams in various countries.”

He also notes that “another core topic factor core topic the commitment of governments that choose to promote and invest in palliative care, both in primary care and at more specialized levels.” In contrast, “political instability, insufficient public investment, and heavy reliance on international funding make many services fragile and vulnerable in terms of sustainability and continuity.”

Trips to Uganda and South Africa

While development his thesis Vieira spent time in Uganda and South Africa. In Uganda, he worked with the association Palliative Careassociation (APCA) and visited reference letter services and teams, reference letter Hospice Africa Uganda in Kampala—the country’s first hospice—and Mulago Hospital, considered the national center of reference letter palliative care for adults and children. In Uganda—the only country on the entire African continent to have reached the “advanced” level in the development palliative care according to the 2025 classification—she met with the manager department Ministry ofdepartment , as well as other policymakers. In South Africa, she worked at the University of Cape Town and at Groote Schuur Hospital.

“My field experience allowed me to gain firsthand insight into the challenges related to transportation, access to services, and the various ways communities try to alleviate suffering in resource-constrained settings. It also gave me the opportunity to see how research findings research be applied during the internship, internshipexplains the researcher.

Now, after defending her thesis , the drive to advance palliative care continues to guide her path: “My next goal to focus on an area that remains much less developed in the literature: pediatric palliative care. Its development in its infancy in much of the world, and at the same time, the greatest need for this care is concentrated in low- and middle-income countries.”