They said society had been failed in its right to adequate palliative care. Terminally ill patients, therefore, do not have an alternative to pain management and could not make an informed choice when they want to “end their suffering”.
“This is where we failed our society in terms of providing palliative care in a public sector. This is a right and it’s part of a human right,” said Professor Ames Dhai, director of the Steve Biko Centre for Bioethics in the Faculty of Health Sciences at Wits University, at a recent SA Medical Association conference. The conference was attended by medical professionals from across the country.
“There are alternatives. So what do we do? Do we say fine, there are no alternatives, let’s go for euthanasia, or do we say we are advocates for our patients, we have get the alternative?” said Dhai.
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