This publication provides an overview of the inaugural conference of the African Palliative Care Association (APCA), held June 2-4, 2004 in Arusha, Tanzania. The meeting brought together the growing number of palliative care practitioners throughout Africa to discuss the challenges and share experiences of delivering palliative care in resource-poor countries. The event helped consolidate APCA as the leading organization charged with promoting palliative care across the continent by coordinating efforts to provide training, support, and standards of care for professionals and others involved in palliative care delivery.

Representatives from hospices and other programs that provide home-based palliative care in different communities across 22 African countries came together for the event. The gathering also included donors to these programs—including the Open Society Institute, the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund, Help the Hospices, the Catholic Relief Services, the National Hospice and Palliative Care Association (NHPCO), the Federation of Hospices in Sub-Saharan Africa (FHSSA)—and representatives from U.S. President Bush’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and the Technical Review Panel of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.