Universal Health Coverage and Serious Health-related Suffering: A Case for Children and Young People

Abstract

1. There are many policies, documents, platforms and resolution statements published each year, some of which have a direct impact on strengthening the global imperative for children’s palliative care (CPC). 2. Ensuring equitable access to, availability of and usage of quality palliative care (PC) services is a fundamental and definitional component of UHC. 3. The Lancet Commission report on ‘Alleviating the Access Abyss in PC and Pain Relief—an imperative of universal health coverage’, recognises that children and their families have specific palliative care needs, with children accounting for 9% of those experiencing SHS. 4. The relief of serious health related suffering (SHS) in children is not always seen as a priority, with existing measures of care focusing on extending life and productivity as opposed to quality of life (QoL). In the absence of palliative care, inappropriate disease-focused care can worsen the quality of life of children. 5. The International Association of Hospice and Palliative Care (IAHPC) essential practices for PC in Primary Care, along with the Lancet Commission report, set out essential packages of palliative care and pain relief that should be available for CPC.