The First High-Level Meeting “Palliative Care: Strengthening the Socio-Sanitary System” will be held in Lima, Peru, October 11th, with the participation of national and regional health sector regulators and policy makers. The idea is to discuss public policies at the Latin American level that will allow for greater access to these services. At the event, the Palliative Care Law, which was passed by Peruvian Congress in mid-August, will be featured as a model for legislation. Tania Pastrana, president of the Latin American Palliative Care Association (ALCP), hopes that the event will establish the basis for a regional work in the field.

Pastrana said that most LAC currently have no public policies on palliative care and the use of controlled drugs is excessively restricted for these services. The position of the International Hospice and Palliative Care Association (IAHPC) is that this medical specialty benefits the entire health system. For this reason, once the meeting is over, they hope that the authorities will be able to consolidate a regional line of work in the subject.

The recently passed law in Peru ensures that health facilities provide medical treatment for terminally ill cancer patients. In addition, Costa Rica has two bills that create the National Council for Palliative Care (still pending study in Committee) and regulate the provision of these services (an initiative that awaits its first vote in the chamber). Finally, in Mexico, a dossier was submitted at the end of 2017 to create the National Cancer Control Programme, which includes palliative care as one of its guiding principles, although no progress has yet been made.