Launch of the Atlas of Palliative Care in the Asia Pacific Regions: An advocacy tool for palliative care

On Apr 24, 2025, the Asia Pacific Hospice Palliative Care Network's 2025 Atlas of Palliative Care was launched at the 16th Asia Pacific Hospice Palliative Care Conference in Malaysia. This is a first for the Western Pacific and South East Asian regions. 

Coordinated by Spain's ATLANTES Global Observatory of Palliative Care, housed at the University of Navarra, this atlas joins similar atlases for Africa, the Eastern Mediterranean, Europe, and Latin America. 

The altas can be used to bolster advocacy to introduce palliative care, and also to help extend care where weaknesses persist alongside established strengths.

Dr Carlos Centeno, the director of ATLANTES described it as a "a useful 'business card'"

"Countless colleagues tell us that the atlas is like a professional business card that can be handed in at health ministries, so that they begin to understand what palliative care is," said Carlos Centeno. "The Asia-Pacific region has never been evaluated in a systematic way, with all countries simultaneously."

Poor access to morphine

"A sad surprise is the low availability of morphine, which is available in less than 10% of rural areas and is also scarce in the cities," says Centeno. The atlas reports that 75% of the region's territories do not have oral morphine for pain management in their primary care facilities.