The project was funded by DFID (the Department for International Development in the UK) and ran for a five year period. Its overall aim was to improve access to pain and symptom controlling drugs for people living with HIV/AIDS.
APCA co-ordinated implementation of project activities in six African countries: Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, Tanzania and Zambia. Capacity building was carried out for coordinators from national palliative care associations in those countries. They subsequently carried out a number of core project activities such as providing training for health professionals and engaging in policy and advocacy activities around access to pain relieving drugs at national level.
The project was found to have been particularly effective in increasing willingness to prescribe among health professionals, increasing awareness among national stakeholders of the need to address pain and contributing to concrete changes in the policy environment.
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