Dignity in end-of-life care

Diane Mukasahaha is helping improve palliative care in Rwanda as the National Coordinator for Palliative Care in the country's Ministry of Health.

What was the issue with palliative care in Rwanda?

Most of the government's budget is aligned to prevention and treatment rather than palliative care. People were dying without dignity and in pain, with families uninformed of what to do at end of life.

What made you choose to do the online course at Manchester?

We want our patients who have life- threatening diseases to be psychologically, physically and emotionally supported, and to die with dignity and without pain.

How useful was the online course for you?

The online course was really useful because I got skills and knowledge on who to deal with public health and formulate policy based on evidence. This programme affects not only me but the entire country.

What are the next steps for you?

After graduating in Public Health I knew I had to integrate palliative care into the Rwandan health system. I've had training, meetings and workshops to get government involved in the development of national policy.