PALPRAC Proud to Co-Host the 2025 South African Palliative Care Conference in Durban
From 18 to 21 June 2025, PALPRAC stood alongside APCC and PatchSA as co-hosts of the 2025 South African Palliative Care Conference in Durban. The theme was Revolution. Evolution. Solution. Over 300 healthcare professionals from across the country came together to share, learn and chart the future of palliative care in South Africa.
The conference opened with a full day of preconference workshops on 18 June. Delegates could choose from practical, hands-on sessions. One covered the day-to-day realities of adult palliative care, from symptom and wound management to nutrition and mouth care. Another explored meaning-making and spirituality at the end of life. A particular highlight for us was A Toolkit for Building Moral Resilience, an interactive ethics workshop facilitated by Dr Heidi Matisonn. It gave delegates the chance to practise and sharpen their ethical arguing skills.
The main programme blended international expertise, South African leadership and deeply personal stories from the field. Streams covered the management of treatment-resistant and complex pain, integrating palliative care into the ICU setting, and strengthening home-based palliative care. A dedicated stream also addressed the law, ethics and shared decision-making in children’s palliative care.
Several sessions stood out for us. Dr Suresh Kumar shared learnings from Kerala’s Compassionate Communities model, with plenty of lessons we can adopt locally. Nokulinda Mkhize’s talk on Ubuntu as a principle for informed palliative care was a real eye-opener. Dr Christian Ntizimira joined virtually to present The Safari Concept, an African framework for end-of-life care. It’s always a pleasure to connect with him. Dr Julia Ambler also spoke on the importance of compassionate self-care in preventing burnout.
A defining moment of the conference was the signing of the Durban Declaration of Palliative Care. It is a strong collective call for awareness, integration, education, access and innovation in palliative care. The declaration affirms that palliative care is a right for adults and children alike, and that it belongs at every level of the state healthcare system, not only with NGOs. It was co-signed by PALPRAC, APCC and PatchSA as the three organising organisations.
The conference also gave PALPRAC the perfect opportunity to hold our Annual General Meeting in person. It was a valuable moment to connect with members face-to-face and reflect on the work achieved over the past year.
We were fortunate to benefit from the generous support of the International Association for Hospice & Palliative Care (IAHPC), whose funding allowed several colleagues to attend the conference.
As PALPRAC, we are proud of the role we played in organising this pivotal event. We remain committed to carrying its momentum forward.
