Palliative care

Palliative care improves the quality of life for people living with HIV and their families through its holistic approach, and is a human right. It addresses physical symptoms, including pain, psychological, social and spiritual needs and can be provided in any care setting, including the home. It is appropriate from diagnosis throughout the course of the disease and into bereavement as appropriate.

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Palliative care: latest news

Palliative care resources

Palliative care features

Palliative care in your own words

  • Losing Billy

    1980When I first met Billy, I was working behind the bar at the Euston Tavern in Kings Cross. Billy had been staring across the bar...

    From: In your own words

Palliative care news from aidsmap

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Palliative care news selected from other sources

  • Chronic Pain Is a Huge, Underrecognized Problem for People With HIV

    Living with chronic pain not only drags down quality of life, but it is also linked to poorer HIV-related health outcomes.

    12 October 2018 | Poz

  • How the myth about opioids and chronic pain affects people living with HIV

    What are the benefits of long-term opioid use for people living with HIV, and what are the harms? To shed light on these issues, Jessica Merlin, MD, PhD, joins BETA from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Dr. Merlin is an infectious disease physician, an addiction specialist, and she runs a chronic pain clinic for people living with HIV.

    09 October 2018 | BETA blog

  • Stigma and empty wallets make HIV positive people carry on despite pain

    Up to three quarters of people living with HIV suffer from pain. The Conversation Africa spoke to Antonia Wadley about research that measured activity and resilience among people living with HIV and pain.

    03 October 2016 | The Conversation

  • Free new tool for health providers to assist physical rehabilitation in people living with HIV

    The free website, entitled "How Rehabilitation Can Help People Living with HIV in Sub-Saharan Africa: An Evidence-Informed Tool for Rehab Providers", was adapted from a Canadian resource and is also downloadable for use on paper. It's designed to be a one-stop resource for physiotherapists, occupational therapists and other health workers who can quickly and easily research the most common HIV-related disabilities, and find evidence-based rehabilitation solutions

    02 December 2015 | Eurekalert Medicine & Health

  • Long-Term Painkiller Use Linked to Higher Death Risk Among HIV-Positive Individuals

    Long-term opioid use conferred a 40% higher death risk in a prospective study of U.S. veterans with or without HIV. The heightened risk ran to 46% in veterans with HIV compared with 25% in those without HIV. Long-term benzodiazepine use also inflated death risk in this population.

    17 June 2015 | The Body

  • Medical cannabis company donates $1 million to explore plant’s healing potential

    Medical marijuana producer National Green Biomed Ltd. has committed $1 million to the University of British Columbia to allow researchers to study the therapeutic effects of cannabis. The company has made an application and is awaiting approval from Health Canada to produce and sell medical marijuana. The contribution will support research by assistant professor of medicine M-J Milloy, who is studying marijuana’s potential to treat HIV, and alleviate pain and nausea caused by acute illness and medications used to combat HIV and AIDS.

    09 June 2015 | University of British Columbia press release

  • Uganda: women and girls bear burden of HIV caregiving

    James Odong explores how the burden of caregiving falls heavily on girls, affecting their quality of life and education opportunities, as well as bringing added vulnerabilities.

    07 April 2015 | Key Correspondents

  • Aging with HIV and AIDS: A growing social issue

    As the first people with HIV grow old, a new study from St. Michael's Hospital, Toronto questions whether the health care system and other government policies are prepared to meet their complex medical and social needs. The study finds that aging for people with HIV may be more challenging than for the general population because of HIV-related stigma, loss of friends and social networks, and the detrimental health effects of the virus and medications taken to combat the virus.

    26 June 2014 | EurekAlert

  • Community caregivers: the backbone of HIV care and support programmes

    Community caregivers are the backbone of effective HIV care and support programmes according to a multi-country study funded by UNAIDS and Cordaid and conducted by the Caregivers Action Network (CAN) and Cordaid.

    09 September 2013 | UNAIDS

  • HIV in Thailand: how we moved our Aids care into the community

    Usanee Janngeon writes about the evolution of her organisation – from a hospice that was 'a dumping ground for the dying', to offering all-inclusive home-based care.

    10 July 2013 | The Guardian
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These pages have been developed with the support of the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund.

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Diana - the work continues

NAM has published a series of in-depth clinical reviews, focused on key aspects of HIV & AIDS care in resource-limited settings, incorporating and addressing palliative care.

Grants from the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund enabled us to produce these reviews and we gratefully acknowledge its support.

You can read and download the clinical review collection on our HIV & AIDS Treatment in Practice pages.

See also

Community Consensus Statement on Access to HIV Treatment and its Use for Prevention

Together, we can make it happen

We can end HIV soon if people have equal access to HIV drugs as treatment and as PrEP, and have free choice over whether to take them.

Launched today, the Community Consensus Statement is a basic set of principles aimed at making sure that happens.

The Community Consensus Statement is a joint initiative of AVAC, EATG, MSMGF, GNP+, HIV i-Base, the International HIV/AIDS Alliance, ITPC and NAM/aidsmap
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This content was checked for accuracy at the time it was written. It may have been superseded by more recent developments. NAM recommends checking whether this is the most current information when making decisions that may affect your health.

NAM’s information is intended to support, rather than replace, consultation with a healthcare professional. Talk to your doctor or another member of your healthcare team for advice tailored to your situation.