This year, PCAU celebrates 25 years since its founding in 1999. The organization has been at the forefront of all hospice and palliative care development in Uganda.

The theme for PCAU’s Silver Jubilee is “Celebrating 25 years of extending compassion, holistic care, pain relief, hope, and justice to individuals and families in Uganda”

To commemorate the milestones of the 25 years, PCAU has organized a series of activities. The activities will entail, webinars, a charity walk, an open day, and the PCAU Life Members gathering and a grand Silver Jubilee Gala Dinner on December 6, 2024. All these activities will be focused on celebrating the milestones, strengthening membership and partnerships, advocating for palliative care, and resource mobilization.

On May 31, after the AGM we launched the PCAU@25 Years commemorations.
We had a moving caregiver speech by Sebastian Balikomweeyo who is a palliative care advocate and former Board Chairperson of Rays of Hope Hospice Jinja. Sebastian shared with all present how he was the primary caregiver for his wife who died of cancer. He stood by his wife during the sickness period of about 10 years. He appreciated the role of palliative care. He appealed that palliative care should be integrated into the care and all health facilities. He also encouraged support for early screening and health check-ups.

At the launch of the event, PCAU awarded organizations and institutions that have been very supportive in the last 25 years. These included USAID for granting support for palliative care in 2010. Others awarded were the founders of PCAU, former Board Chairpersons, new Life members, member organizations, and long-serving members staff, and volunteers. We were delighted to host Daniele Nyirandutiye the Mission Director for USAID/Uganda as the Chief Guest. In her speech, she acknowledged the important role of palliative care. She said that hospice had been very valuable to the staff of the USAID Mission in Uganda having supported one that suffered and succumbed to cancer there. She encouraged the participants to continue responding to USAID’s mission call for funding proposals. She explained that the mission was to review the procedures to reduce what they had realized was a video process. While responding to the appeal by Mark-Donald Mwesiga the PCAU executive Director for USAID to integrate palliative care in core work in Uganda, she said that the mission was open to such important discussions. We look forward to further engagements with USAID’s mission in Uganda.

Looking Ahead Together:

The AGM not only fostered a sense of community and pride in the achievements of PCAU but also ignited a collective enthusiasm for the organization’s future goals. PCAU remains committed to serving its members and working towards a future where accessible, high-quality palliative care is a reality for all Ugandans.

Please look out for how to stay connected with PCAU to participate in the year-long activities to commemorate 25 years.