Posted on 5/2/2015

Paediatric palliative care

Fondation Dora is helping Médecins du Monde Suisse to provide access to paediatric palliative care and improve ways of managing grief among vulnerable populations in southern countries.

An interest in paediatric palliative care puts quality at the heart of the relationship between carer and patient. It pinpoints a fundamental link in the care of a population and it recognises that the pain of loss among mothers, fathers and siblings is universal.

“Today, the medical world and governments generally still regard palliative care as part of an approach reserved for privileged countries. We should not use this as an excuse, however, to avoid stepping up our efforts to make paediatric palliative care available to those who need it most.” Professor Nago Humbert, Chairman and founder of Médecins du Monde Switzerland and head of the Paediatric Palliative Care Unit, Sainte-Justine Hospital, Montreal.

Paediatric palliative care consists of overall care for both the child and the family during treatment, but also during the period of mourning both in care centres and at home. The needs and requests expressed by our colleagues in countries with limited resources encouraged Médecins du Monde to respond. Individuals and organisations in Palestine, Benin, Cameroon, Nicaragua, Burundi, Senegal, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Togo are committed to providing support for this particularly vulnerable population. Médecins du Monde Switzerland now wants to put these requests to the international networks that specialise in paediatric palliative care. Médecins du Monde wishes to create a dialogue and the means to develop solutions tailored to their specific context. In 2015, Médecins du Monde also intends to conduct more in-depth research to understand local perceptions of the death of a child in three contexts. Finally, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a first round of training courses will be held for healthcare providers on the management of grief and provision of paediatric palliative care.