Advocacy

Hospis Malaysia supports that palliative care encompasses issues around human rights, ethics, good access to treatment and good access to essential medicines. We recognise the importance for greater public awareness of the benefits of palliative care and therefore strive to raise the visibility of palliative care in Malaysia by improving public knowledge and perception in dealing with life-limiting illnesses.

We are a strong advocate for the rights of patients and their families to have access to professional palliative care, at minimum standards, and to have the option of accessing such care either in the hospital or at home.

Our aim with the work we do in advocacy is to influence policy changes and be a stakeholder in the planning and implementation of national programmes to achieve our vision of making quality palliative care accessible to all in need.

We recognise that policymaker engagement will require substantiation of what is happening on the ground, what are the pressing needs of the nation, and finally what will be required to close the gap between what the needs are and what we can do to close the gap. In 2016, we commissioned and published “Palliative Care Needs Assessment: Malaysia” report.

Simultaneously, we continue our efforts in public engagements and media campaigns to highlight issues about the needs of patients and families facing life-threatening illnesses and end-of-life care.