COMPASS sets sail: a global initiative to strengthen palliative care, with APCA supporting Ghana and Botswana
The African Palliative Care Association is proud to be part of the COMPASS initiative. We are thrilled to be working with Ghana and Botswana on this demonstration project, which is geared towards strengthening palliative care services at country level.
What is COMPASS?
COMPASS is a year-long programme of structured technical support that helps country teams build palliative care more fully into their national health systems. It was developed under the leadership of the WHO-convened Palliative Care Working Group and is delivered by three WHO Collaborating Centres: Project ECHO, the University of Navarra (Atlantes) and St Jude Children's Research Hospital.
The programme was officially launched on 9 September 2026 at its first convening, which brought together more than 120 participants.
How it works
Rather than prescribing one model, COMPASS lets each country team set a shared goal and its own priorities, with guidance from advisors and lessons drawn from other countries. Support is delivered through three pillars:
Shared learning across all participating countries.
Guidance from a dedicated regional advisory team.
In-country conversations that move national priorities forward.
Six areas of health system strengthening
- Empowering people and communities
- Policy and governance
- Health workforce training
- Essential medicines
- Service delivery
- Research
APCA's role
APCA is working alongside the country teams in Ghana and Botswana as part of this demonstration project, drawing on more than two decades of experience supporting palliative care integration across Africa. We look forward to sharing progress and lessons from both countries over the coming year.
Source: eHospice (International Children's edition), 14 September 2026.
