APCA was provisionally established in November 2002, and formally established in Arusha, Tanzania, in June 2004. Its mission is to promote and support affordable and culturally appropriate palliative care throughout Africa. APCA’s goal is to support the scaling-up of palliative care provision across Africa through a culturally appropriate public health approach that strives to balance quality with coverage.
Its broad objectives are to:
- Promote the availability of palliative care for all in need, including orphans and vulnerable children;
- Encourage governments across Africa to support affordable and appropriate palliative care which is to be incorporated into the whole spectrum of health care services;
- Promote the availability of palliative care drugs for all in need;
- Encourage the establishment of national palliative care associations in all African countries;
- Promote palliative care education and training programmes suitable for African countries;
- Develop and promote quality standards in palliative care training and service provision for different levels of health care professionals and care providers.