2026 Palliative Care Awareness Calendar
Welcome to APCA's comprehensive guide to health awareness days and campaign opportunities across Africa. This calendar is designed to support advocates, healthcare professionals, and organizations in planning strategic palliative care activities throughout the year. By aligning our efforts with key dates, we can amplify our collective voice and drive meaningful change for the 9.7 million Africans in need of palliative care.
Priority Awareness Days
World Hospice & Palliative Care Day
21st Anniversary - This year coincides with World Mental Health Day, creating a unique opportunity to address psychosocial care. Launch community campaigns, engage ministers of health, and advocate for morphine access across the 54 African nations.
World Cancer Day
Theme: "United by Unique" - With 1M+ new cancer cases annually in Africa and 80% of patients left in pain, advocate for palliative care integration from diagnosis. Focus on cervical cancer (leading cause of death among African women) and early referral pathways.
Day of the African Child
Pediatric Palliative Care Focus - 21 million children globally need palliative care, majority in Africa, yet only 1% in sub-Saharan Africa access it. Launch school-based programs and advocate for the 15 countries currently offering pediatric services to expand.
World AIDS Day
Protecting Dignity - Despite ART scale-up, advanced HIV disease requires palliative care. Advocate for pain management access in the 24.7M Africans living with HIV (70% of global burden), ensuring dignity for those with treatment-resistant cases.
2026 Monthly Calendar
January
- Cervical Cancer Awareness Month Integrate palliative care in elimination strategies. Leading cause of cancer death among African women.
- International Quality of Life Month Patient-reported outcomes in African palliative care settings.
February
- 4 Feb: World Cancer Day "United by Unique" - Integrate palliative care from diagnosis. Focus on the 1M+ annual African cases.
- 20 Feb: National Caregivers Day Recognize unpaid family caregivers providing 90% of African palliative care.
- 23-24 Feb: SADC Health Ministers' Meeting Johannesburg. Advocate for palliative care in regional HIV/TB/malaria priorities.
March
- 24 Mar: World TB Day Focus on symptom management for drug-resistant TB in high-burden SADC states.
- 8 Mar: International Women's Day Address gender disparities in access to pain relief and palliative care.
April
- 24-30 Apr: African Vaccination Week "Immunization For All is Humanly Possible" - Address suffering from vaccine-preventable diseases.
- 25 Apr: World Malaria Day Pediatric palliative care for severe malaria complications; bereavement support.
May
- 4-10 May: Hospice Week Community awareness, hospice open days. Highlight 675 services across 37 African countries.
- 12 May: International Nurses Day Celebrate nurses' expanded prescribing rights (currently only 20% of African countries).
June
- 16 Jun: Day of the African Child Launch "Every Child Matters" campaign. 21M children need palliative care; only 1% access it.
- 4 Jun: National Children's Day (SA) Highlight South Africa's leadership with 40 pediatric palliative care services.
July
- 18 Jul: Nelson Mandela International Day "67 Minutes for Palliative Care" - Community service supporting home-based care programs.
- Mental Illness Awareness Month Address mental health comorbidities in HIV/AIDS and cancer palliative care.
August
- 26-31 Aug: African Traditional Medicine Week Integrate traditional healers into palliative care teams (models from Cameroon & Mozambique).
- 15 Aug-15 Oct: Leukaemia Awareness Bone Marrow Stem Cell Donation and Leukaemia Awareness Month.
September
- Childhood Cancer Awareness Month Early integration in pediatric oncology units across 15 African countries.
- 9th African Palliative Care Conference Late September (TBA location). Building on 2025 Botswana conference success.
October
- 10 Oct: WHPCD + Mental Health Day Dual observance! Address psychosocial suffering of patients and families.
- 11 Oct: Hats On 4 Children's Palliative Care Pan-African school campaigns and pediatric hospital events.
- Breast Cancer Awareness Month Integration of palliative care in breast cancer treatment pathways.
November
- 6 Nov: SADC Malaria Day Bereavement support and community involvement in malaria-endemic regions.
- 14 Nov: World Diabetes Day Diabetes palliative care as NCD burden rises across Africa.
- 17 Nov: World Prematurity Day Perinatal palliative care services (growing in SA, Kenya, Uganda).
- Caregivers Month National Family Caregivers Month - Support unpaid family caregivers.
December
- 1 Dec: World AIDS Day "Protecting Dignity Through Palliative Care" - Pain management for advanced HIV disease.
- 10 Dec: Human Rights Day Palliative care as a human right under the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights.
- 12 Dec: UHC Day Push for palliative care inclusion in national UHC benefit packages.
2026 Strategic Campaign Priorities
Essential Medicines Access
Address 68% medicine shortage rate. Expand nurse prescribing beyond current 20% of countries. Support local morphine production in 13% of countries.
Paediatric Palliative Care
Expand beyond 15 countries offering pediatric services. Launch "Every Child Matters" on Day of African Child (June 16).
Policy Integration
Move from 26% to 50% of countries with standalone palliative care policies by 2030. Focus on Central Africa and Francophone West Africa.
Community Integration
Scale traditional healer integration models from Cameroon and Mozambique. Train community volunteers during Traditional Medicine Week.
Research Equity
Address imbalance where 80% of research comes from Anglophone countries. Support national research groups and Francophone/Arabic publications.
The African Palliative Care Crisis
Why our awareness campaigns must drive systemic change
9.7M
Africans in need of palliative care
<1%
Currently receiving it
80%
Cancer patients left in pain
54
Countries requiring advocacy
Campaign Resources
2026 Awareness Calendar
Get your comprehensive, print-ready calendar featuring all key dates and campaign opportunities. Email Us for your copy.
Social Media Toolkit
Access ready-to-use graphics, campaign hashtags, and post templates to amplify your advocacy. Email Us to get started.
Advocacy Templates
Professional letter templates for ministers, policymakers, and stakeholders to advance palliative care. Email Us to access.