Table 2.

Government Actions for Improved Palliative Care Integration

To achieve PC integration, governments should do the following:

1. Adopt adequate policies and norms that include PC in health laws, national health programs, and national health budgets.

2. Ensure that insurance plans integrate PC as a component of programs.

3. Ensure access to essential medicines and technologies for pain relief and PC, including pediatric formulations.

4. Ensure that PC is part of all health services (from community health-based programs to hospitals), everyone is assessed, and all staff can provide basic PC with specialist teams available for referral and consultation.

5. Ensure access to adequate PC for vulnerable groups, including children and older persons.

6. Engage with universities, academia, and teaching hospitals to include PC research as well as PC training as an integral component of ongoing education, including basic, intermediate, specialist, and continuing education.

Source: Radbruch et al.⁸