Palliative care is increasingly part of the public conversation in South Africa, and we like to keep our community in the loop. Below is a running collection of media coverage: news articles, interviews and broadcast segments featuring PALPRAC and the palliative care sector more broadly.
A public health system that failed its own palliative care audit
Dr Andrea Mendelsohn, a palliative care doctor working in the public sector, writes about South Africa’s public palliative care system failing a forthcoming World Health Organization audit, and what genuine access to pain relief and family support could look like if that changed. The piece, written in her personal capacity, also touches on the ongoing legal debate around assisted dying, arguing that palliative care access should come first.
How Groote Schuur is redefining dignity in palliative care
Bhekisisa’s Mia Malan speaks to Dr René Krause, who leads the palliative care unit at Groote Schuur Hospital, about the unit’s award-winning partnership with the hospital’s oncology team, common misconceptions around morphine, and what dignity means for patients facing serious illness.
Podcast highlights growing access, and remaining gaps, in SA palliative care
In a HASA-sponsored podcast, Dr Lungi Nyathi of value-based care provider Alignd discusses how access to palliative care is growing through private medical schemes, while the public sector remains patchy and trained providers stay scarce, with fewer than 100 palliative care doctors nationally. She also shares that families who use palliative care, even late in an illness, generally describe it as a meaningful source of support.
A trailblazer bringing palliative care into public hospitals.
BizCommunity speaks to Dr Clint Cupido about Abundant Life Palliative Care, a hospital-based programme at Victoria Hospital in Wynberg that supports patients and their families after discharge. Referrals have grown sharply since 2009, as the programme works to make palliative care part of standard hospital practice.
PALPRAC co-hosts South Africa’s first joint palliative care conference
In this Daily Maverick op-ed, PALPRAC’s Dr Julia Ambler writes with co-organisers from Palliative Care for Children South Africa and the Hospice Palliative Care Association of South Africa about the first national conference bringing the three organisations together. The piece sets out how few South Africans, particularly children, currently have access to palliative care, and argues it should be everyone’s responsibility rather than a specialist field.
Palliative Care Conference 2023: Let’s start a conversation.
Bush Radio speaks to PALPRAC member, social worker, and co-director of Umduduzi Hospice, Tracey Brand. Tracey introduces the Palliative Care Conference to Bush Radio listeners and explores its central theme: Palliative care is everyone’s business. Thank you, Bush Radio, for rolling out the red carpet for this important conversation. https://bushradio.wordpress.com/
Dr Julia Ambler discusses the morphine shortage, leaving patients without pain relief.
Thank you to the POWER FM lunch team for this interview with PALPRAC Chair, Dr Julia Ambler, discussing the lack of availability of morphine. Reminding us that this poses a genuine concern for patients and doctors trying to manage pain.
Morphine shortage leaves patients without pain relief.
News24 traces a nationwide shortage of morphine powder, used to make the liquid morphine many palliative care patients rely on, back to a supply problem at a single Cape Town manufacturer. PALPRAC’s Dr Margie Venter features in the piece, describing the toll the shortage took on patients left without pain relief.
In Medies met Dr Darren Green (KykNet) gesels met Dr Margie Venter oor Palliatiewe Sorg
PALPRAC Clinical Director, Dr Margie Venter, discusses palliative care on Medies met Dr Darren Green on kykNET. The conversation highlights common misconceptions, important facts about palliative care, the value of multidisciplinary support, and PALPRAC’s passion for advancing palliative care across Southern Africa.
Putting the spotlight on pain management
Spotlight looks at why good pain management is still out of reach for many South Africans, including gaps in access to morphine and in prescribing rules. PALPRAC’s Dr Margie Venter features in the piece.
The children being left behind by South Africa’s palliative care gap.
PALPRAC board chair Dr Julia Ambler, of Umduduzi Hospice Care for Children, writes about the shortage of funded posts for children’s palliative care in South Africa, noting that at the time only one doctor nationally was state-paid to do this work, and only part-time. She also unpacks the stigma that keeps some families from accepting a palliative care referral until much later than they should.
