Saturday, 13 October 2018, World Hospice and Palliative Care Day 2018 theme: Palliative Care – Because I Matter

The theme for World Hospice and Palliative Care Day 2018 is: Palliative Care – Because I Matter. 

This theme was selected following an open consultation with people directly affected by serious illness, WHPCA members and supporters, and global hospice and palliative care advocates. Thank-you to all who took part in the consultation. 

We chose ‘Because I Matter’ as this year’s theme, because it centres on the lived experience of people affected by serious illness, looking at what matters most, including the often-overlooked financial impact of palliative care needs on individuals and households. The theme also contains elements of human rights and justice, asking: If I matter, then why am I not getting the care I need?

This year is the centenary of Dame Cicely Saunders, founder of the modern hospice movement. So it is fitting that this year’s World Hospice and Palliative Care Day theme draws its wording from her iconic quote: "You matter because you are you and you matter until the end of your life."

World Hospice and Palliative Care Day aims to:

• share our collective vision to increase the availability of hospice and palliative care throughout the world by creating opportunities to speak out about these issues
• raise awareness and understanding of the needs – medical, social, practical, spiritual – of people living with a life limiting illness and their families
• raise funds to support and develop hospice and palliative care services around the world.

A key action for this year’s World Hospice and Palliative Care Day campaign will be to call on governments to listen to people who need or access palliative care and support the inclusion of the essential package of palliative care in all national Universal Health Coverage (UHC) schemes.

Keep an eye on the World Hospice and Palliative Care Day webpage for updates and materials, and to register your World Hospice and Palliative Care Day event.

This theme will be the first in a three-year series around the value and economics of palliative care.