Palliative Care for the Next Decade: A Global Call to Relieve Suffering
A decade after the World Health Assembly affirmed palliative care as a health system responsibility, access remains critically limited—especially in low- and middle-income countries, where over 80% of the global need exists. An article in The Lancet urges health ministries to recognize palliative care as essential to universal health coverage and outlines key strategies to expand access, including integrating palliative care into national policies, education, and community-based approaches. With the upcoming 2025 World Health Assembly, the authors call for urgent, coordinated global action to relieve serious health-related suffering in the decade ahead.