World Hospice and Palliative Care Day 2018 theme announced: Palliative Care – Because I Matter

World Hospice and Palliative Care Day 2018 theme announced: Palliative Care – Because I Matter

The Worldwide Hospice Palliative Care Alliance is pleased to announce the theme for World Hospice and Palliative Care Day 2018: Palliative Care – Because I Matter. 

This theme was selected following an open consultation with people directly affected by serious illness, WHPCA members and supporters, and global hospice and palliative care advocates.

We chose ‘Because I Matter’ as this year’s theme, because it centres on the lived experience of people affected by serious illness, looking at what matters most, including the often-overlooked financial impact of palliative care needs on individuals and households. The theme also contains elements of human rights and justice, asking: If I matter, then why am I not getting the care I need?

This year is the centenary of Dame Cicely Saunders, founder of the modern hospice movement. So it is fitting that this year’s World Hospice and Palliative Care Day theme draws its wording from her iconic quote: ‘You matter because you are you and you matter until the end of your life’.

World Hospice and Palliative Care Day aims to:

  •    share our collective vision to increase the availability of hospice and palliative care throughout the world by creating opportunities to speak out about     these issues
  •    raise awareness and understanding of the needs – medical, social, practical, spiritual – of people living with a life limiting illness and their families
  •    raise funds to support and develop hospice and palliative care services around the world.
  •    A key action for this year’s World Hospice and Palliative Care Day campaign will be to call on governments to listen to people who need or access         palliative care and support the inclusion of the essential package of palliative care in all national UHC schemes.

Keep an eye on the World Hospice and Palliative Care Day webpage for updates, materials and to register your World Hospice and Palliative Care Day event.

This theme will be the first in a three-year series around the value and economics of palliative care.

The suggested themes for World Day 2019 & 2020 are Volunteers at the Heart of Palliative Care, and Palliative Care – Yes we can!

Please contact Kate Francklin, WHPCA Communications Manager, on kfrancklin@thewhpca.org for more information and to contribute to the ongoing consultation for 2019 and 2020.

As the national charity for hospice care, HPCA (Hospice Palliative Care Association of South Africa) champion and support the work of more than 107-member organisations, which provide hospice care to around 120 000 people across South Africa each year. Your support helps HPCA to ensure they deliver the highest quality of care, and any donation towards HPCA and its initiatives will make sure that their vital services in future is sustained.

Click here to donate and show your support towards hospice!