End of Life Care (EoLC) is tragically deficient in many areas of the world, particularly in lower and middle income countries. The lack of education, communication, and understanding about death and dying, combined with geographical, cultural, societal, and traditional norms have inhibited quality EoLC in countries hardest hit by the burden of disease. These barriers, along with the lack of access to vital pain medication, have resulted in millions of people suffering unnecessarily at the end of life.
Our Forum will encourage nations to make EoLC a national healthcare priority and to create a paradigm shift in which quality EoLC is a benchmark of a successful nation. With representation from across the globe, our Forum accepts the diverse challenges that nations face in caring for patients at the end of life but is adamant that much more must be done to reduce unnecessary suffering across the world. The Forum will recommend specific steps nations can take to dramatically improve EoLC and will focus on innovations that can provide new solutions, whether policy, technology, or logistically driven in nature.
