CaSIPO (Care and Support to Improve Patient Outcomes) was launched on the 19th of March at 20 West Hotel in Johannesburg.

Guests included Lucas Radebe – international football icon, and ambassador for the Hospice Palliative Care Association (HPCA) in SA. A warm welcoming address was made by HPCA Board Chairperson, Mr Bulelane Kuwane.

Dr Liz Gwyther, CEO of HPCA, provided an overview of HPCA, setting the stage for André Wagner of HPCA to provide an overview of the CaSIPO project. It is a project that will provide capacity building assistance to the South African Government to integrate care and support services (palliative care) within the broader health system.

After the second musical interlude of the afternoon, we heard from Stephen Callahan, the Deputy Mission Director of USAID, the organisation that has granted funding of $50 million over five years for the CaSIPO project.

Dr Liz Gwyther believes that CaSIPO’s “more holistic approach to caring for patients will improve patient outcomes so that South Africans can experience quality of life and dignity when diagnosed with a life-threatening or life-limiting illness”. She introduced keynote speaker, Dr Yogan Pillay (Deputy Director General: HIV/Aids, TB and MCWH, National Department of Health), who said: “The generous funding from the people of the United States of America will assist us to strengthen systems to ensure that people with chronic diseases are retained in care and provided with the necessary support to enable to them to adhere to treatment.”

The launch was concluded with a vote of thanks from Barbara Ikin of HPCA, and a celebratory high tea.

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