OSI Organizes Meetings in South Africa on Human Rights and Palliative Care

Date:

October 17, 2006

Together with the Open Society Foundation for South Africa, the International Palliative Care Initiative and the Law and Health Initiative organized two meetings in South Africa in October 2006 focused on integrating legal and human rights advocacy into OSI-funded palliative care initiatives.

The first meeting, with the Hospice and Palliative Care Association of South Africa, included a discussion of how the organization could use human rights norms and procedures in its work when advocating for universal access to palliative care, pain control, and antiretroviral treatment for people living with HIV. The second meeting brought together legal and human rights advocates with palliative care providers to discuss ideas for joint work, including placing paralegals in hospices, developing a legal manual for palliative care providers to advocate for their clients, and pursuing litigation on issues such as access to morphine and funeral benefits.

For more information contact: Tamar Ezer, tezer@sorosny.org, or Kiera Hepford, khepford@sorosny.org.