The project also seeks to empower those children who have life threatening and life limiting conditions and their families to inform service delivery around the provision of CPC. The project hopes to achieve this through children’s focus groups, semi structured interviews and meetings with policy makers.

PACAM organised a Children Palliative Care Empowerment Workshop for Northern Region at Mzuzu Central Hospital. Participants to the workshop were children on palliative care and their guardians from Mzuzu and Nkhata Bay. The main topic for the day was sickle cell anaemia as 67% of these patients have sickle cell anaemia.

Four children shared their experiences on how they have benefited from the project. The main challenge was that they have to travel a long way to get medications. Their plea is to have medication available in health centres where they live. As of now, the drugs are only available at the central hospital

One of the projects output is to equip health workers with knowledge and skill to deliver CPC. So far 25 health care workers have been trained in CPC more will be trained in the coming year. The increase in number of skilled CPC workers has increased access to CPC services.

Background

• PACAM is implementing a 2nd phase of scaling up of Children’s palliative care services with funding from (OSISA)
• Started in September 2015
• During first phase PACAM worked with central hospitals with funding from DFID.
• Trained 65 health care workers and reached out to 3,000 children.
  
  

The project is currently involved the policy development which will include children policy issues .So far the zero draft is out and will be reviewed by the stakeholders soon.