THE FORMATION
OF GHANA
PALLIATIVE CARE ASSOCIATION (GPCA)
- Background In July 2006, the first meeting of care givers towards the formation of GPCA took place at the conference room of a non governmental organization- Palliative Care Ghana (PCG). Those present were;
·
Ms. Mary A. Addo,
Ms. Dorothy Amanor-Boadu (Elite Nursing
Agency)
·
Mrs. Mavis Okang
Afoakwa (Ripples Health Care)
·
Ms. Mary Opare
and Dr. Stephen Ayisi Addo (Palliative
Care Ghana)
The above two Directors of PCG were the conveners of
the said meeting, compiled by Dr. Stephen Ayisi Addo.
- Purpose of meeting
Ms.
Mary Opare; the only Ghanaian representative on the board of Africa Palliative Care
Association- APCA gave a brief background to the meeting referring to
efforts being made internationally to mainstream palliative care as a key
component of health care delivery. She added that a lot of advocacy needed to
be done to ensure the realization of this dream at the national level as a
continuation of initiatives that had been started internationally. The need to
establish national associations was emphasized at previous conferences held in
Uganda and Nairobi in the past three years.
She
therefore indicated that the main reason for convening this meeting was to
create a platform for members to consider the institution of palliative care
through a vibrant association of all care givers. This was critical for the
growth and sustainability of palliative care practice in Ghana given the
challenges currently facing care givers.
- Discussions
The
idea [Though not original] was fully embraced by other participants who
emphasized the need for such a body, to address the challenges currently
confronting their practice, some of which were to do with issues of
accreditation and regulation, limited access to facilities for capacity
building in palliative care and a general lack of sensitivity and sometimes,
deliberate resistance to issues of palliative care in the country at both
institutional and political levels.
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