Education & Training
First palliative care education conference for health teaching institutions in Africa
Speke Resort & Conference Centre
Kampala, Uganda
10th - 11th October 2008
Between 10-11 October, the first palliative care conference for deans of medical schools and heads of nursing schools was held in Kampala, Uganda.
Jointly hosted by The Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund and The True Colours Trust, both based in the UK, in collaboration with the African Palliative Care Association (APCA), the meeting brought together over 70 delegates from 10 African countries (including Botswana, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe). The delegates were comprised of deans of medical schools, heads of nursing schools, senior lecturers, training managers and directors in palliative care organisations, and senior officials with a key role in curriculum development in their respective countries.
The conference, which was based around the theme of ‘Palliative care: An essential part of medical and nursing training’, stressed the need for the integration of the discipline into the core curricula for nurses and doctors across Africa. In addition to demonstrating how palliative care is being incorporated into the curricula in some African countries, and how this can be extended across the continent, delegates shared the benefits of palliative care to patients and the value of this specialism to clinical practice. Strategies for integrating palliative care in to existing medical and nursing curricula were also discussed.
At the end of the conference delegates developed country action plans to advance this work, and called upon APCA and other regional and international partners to provide technical assistance and other resources (including adequate funding) to realise them. As Mrs Sylvia Tumelo, one of the delegates and the Principal of the Institute of Health Sciences in Gaborone, Botswana, noted: ‘We will never forget the experience and the rich lessons we learnt from both the visits [to patients’ homes] and the conference.’
Click for a copy of the conference programme, presentations and delegates contact list.
For further information, please contact our Training and Standards Manager, Fatia Kiyange.