While access to palliative care is recognized internationally as a human right, from a global health perspective, there are many gaps within the professional services that provide palliative care together with corresponding health inequities for people needing to access palliative care. Palliative care development, or the building and expansion of palliative care services, represents a key strategy in addressing those gaps and health inequities.

The development of palliative care depends on various factors including healthcare services and their provision of clinical care, as well as education, research and ongoing professional development activities in accordance with guidelines and policies across different countries and regions. As is the case with many regions across the globe, there is a need to further develop and promote access to quality hospice and palliative care in the Asia Pacific – reaching out to work in partnership together with communities and ensuring that their needs are met in a way that is equitable. One of the key components of palliative care development is the education of healthcare professionals, policymakers, and the public. A past survey of member countries from the Asia Pacific Hospice Network found that although care services were generally well developed in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan, there was a need to strengthen palliative care education for healthcare providers.