A three- day Palliative Care training workshop has been organised for health workers in Accra to improve on their knowledge and skills in cancer treatment.

The workshop is aimed to equip the participants on how to avoid unnecessary suffering and to improve the quality life of cancer patients through emotional support, symptom control, end of life care and bereavement care.

Dr Kofi Nyarko, Programme Manager Commonwealth Disease Control Programme, said palliative care services are limited to human resources and infrastructure.

“This palliative care training is, therefore, important as this will help to improve the capacity of health professionals in the area of palliative care.”

Dr Nyarko said cancer is one of the main diseases that navigate to palliative, and there is the need to address the problem holistically.

He advised participants to take good care of palliative care patients especially who are the advanced stage of the disease.

This Dr Nyarko said would enable them to have dignity and peace during the difficult and final phases of their lives.

The workshop was organised in collaboration with Ghana Health Service, Africa Oxford Cancer Foundation and American Society of Clinical Oncology.

Palliative is the area of healthcare that focuses on relieving and preventing the suffering of patients.