Held annually on 1 December, ‘World AIDS Day’ is a global day dedicated to raising awareness of the AIDS pandemic caused by the spread of the HIV infection and remembering those who have died from this disease. Palliative care plays a critical role in the treatment of HIV/ AIDS sufferers. “Palliative care is focused on improving the quality of life for all patients diagnosed with a life-threatening or life-changing illness,” says Dr Ewa Skowronska, CEO of the HPCA

Saturday, 8 October is World Hospice Palliative Care Day 2022 (WHPCD2022). An annual awareness day, this year is particularly poignant in light of the pandemic filled years that we’ve all endured as well as the socio-economic and political volatility that the globe is experiencing. This has led to levels of unprecedented global grief and the World Hospice Palliative Care Association has announced that their theme for 2022 will be healing hearts and communities.

Hospice Week takes place this year from 1 – 7 May 2022. Every year, this week focuses on highlighting the role that hospices play in the medical and healthcare landscape. In 2022, this conversation is more important than ever before as the Covid-19 pandemic not only highlighted the topic of death, but also highlighted that palliative care is an oft-misunderstood service – that it is considered to be “end-of-life” care, and not the holistic service that it actually is for anyone diagnosed with a life-threatening illness

“You only die once, but you live every day,” – an expression many of us have heard and one that may particularly resonate after the last two years. The Covid-19 pandemic has caused many of us to re-evaluate our lives – to take stock of our priorities and to decide whether our life design, as it is, works for us. For many, this has led to life altering decisions and changes and, for many, it has led to embracing life within a ‘new normal’, complete with a new ‘bucket list’.

This 4th February is World Cancer Day. According to data collated from members of the Hospice Palliative Care Association (HPCA) at the end of 2021; no fewer than 5,120 people were assisted post-cancer diagnoses, with 4,293 receiving care across 52 hospices. Says Ewa Skowronska, CEO of the HPCA: “Despite the importance of palliative care being available to any individual diagnosed with a