Towards universal coverage—highlights from the 2nd Uganda Conference on Cancer and Palliative Care, 5–6 September 2019, Kampala, Uganda

Abstract

The 2nd Uganda Conference on Cancer and Palliative Care was held in September 2019 in Kampala, Uganda under the theme: Towards Universal Coverage. It was hosted by the Uganda Cancer Institute and the Palliative Care Association of Uganda (PCAU). The conference brought together 350 delegates from eight countries. Key themes from the conference included: universal health coverage (UHC), service provision and public health; resources for achieving UHC; capacity building; human rights and engagement on the implementation of the recommendations made by the Uganda Human Rights Commission; provision of cancer and palliative care to 'hard to reach' and 'vulnerable' groups; paediatrics; health promotion and prevention; policy and advocacy and digital technology. The conference also gave opportunity to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the work of PCAU, with a celebration dinner attended by the Minister of Health. The past few years have seen significant developments in both cancer and palliative care in Uganda, and this was evident in the presentations, and the way that provision has changed and improved since the first cancer and palliative care conference in 2017. Emphasis on UHC, along with the support of government and other stakeholders, is important in the ongoing development of cancer and palliative care services in Uganda.

Turnaround time and barriers to treatment of newly diagnosed cancer in Uganda: a mixed-methods longitudinal study

“…Access to care is dependent on health systems, and patient's social context. Health system barriers to cancer treatment in sub-Saharan Africa include; few radiotherapy infrastructures 2 , poor availability of chemotherapy and palliative care 3 , 4 , shortage of oncologists 4 , 5 , and limited capacity to deliver cancer surgery 6 . While patient-level factors include high out of pocket expenditure on treatment cost 5 , 7 , 8 , and insufficient use of resources 1 .…”

“…Health system barriers to cancer treatment in sub-Saharan Africa include; few radiotherapy infrastructures 2 , poor availability of chemotherapy and palliative care 3,4 , shortage of oncologists 4,5 , and limited capacity to deliver cancer surgery 6 . While patient-level factors include high out of pocket expenditure on treatment cost 5,7,8 , and insufficient use of resources 1 . Although several studies have investigated barriers to accessing cancer treatment in Africa, these have focused largely on specific cancer types namely cervix cancer 7,9,10 and Burkitt's lymphoma 11 .…”

Palliative care in Uganda: quantitative descriptive study of key palliative care indicators 2018-2020

“…Imported powdered morphine is used to produce oral morphine of two concentrations -5 mg/ml green and 50 mg/ml red morphine. Morphine is distributed in Uganda via two suppliers -National Medical Stores (NMS) which supplies public facilities and Joint Medical Stores (JMS) which supplies private facilities [15,16]. The International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) recognizes oral morphine as a controlled substance and this means governments must license, supervise, and report to INCB the production and distribution of all morphine [17].…”

“…On the national level, PCAU collects data on facility accreditation status and morphine distribution. In 2015, PCAU, the Center for Hospice Care/Hospice Foundation and the University of Notre Dame piloted an mHealth surveillance project to collect key palliative care indicators via mobile phones and address the lack of quality data at a subset of healthcare facilities across the country [15]. The project collects palliative care data at 20 facilities care indicators is needed into geographical accessibility of palliative care services, morphine availability trends, and patient diagnoses in order to improve the provision of palliative care in Uganda.…”