Palliative Care Namibia

05/12/2025

17/11/2025

Cancer Association of Namibia (WO30) announces official opening of Palliative Care Namibia unit in Swakopmund, Erongo Region.

The Cancer Association of Namibia (WO30) is proud to announce the official opening of our Palliative Care Namibia (PCN) unit in Swakopmund, scheduled for Friday, 23 January 2026.

All registrations, statutory approvals, and administrative processes have now been successfully concluded. Construction and furnishing of the facility are complete, and the recruitment process commenced in mid-November 2025. This marks yet another significant milestone in bringing this essential service to the community.

This achievement follows a long journey of careful planning, coordinated effort, and steadfast commitment. Through the unwavering support of our partners, donors, and many dedicated Namibians, we are honoured to introduce our 10-bed palliative care unit at the CAN Erongo Centre in the heart of Swakopmund.
More than the establishment of a new facility, this development reflects our shared determination to ensure that individuals and families affected by cancer receive compassionate, dignified, and accessible care when they need it most. We look forward to sharing this important moment with our community as we continue strengthening palliative care services across Namibia.

We are also pleased to confirm that architectural design and town planning for Palliative Care Namibia, Windhoek West, are well underway. This project will advance at full pace from January 2026 and will be located near our Head Office and interim homes, supporting the already established House Zietsman Care Facility by PCN of CAN, in Klein Windhoek.

“As an organisation, the Cancer Association of Namibia remains committed to a proactive and compassionate approach in supporting individuals and families navigating a cancer diagnosis. We look forward to continued collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Social Services – Namibia, as we work towards making quality palliative care a standard, accessible service within the Namibian healthcare system for all who need it.”- Rolf Hansen, CEO of CAN/PCN.

We extend our sincere appreciation to our programme partners and donors for their unwavering support in realising the vision and establishment of Palliative Care Namibia (PCN).

15/11/2025

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08/11/2025

Thank you for the kind donation and gift of flowers, in lieu of a loved one who went to be with the Lord, dear Fern Funeral Solutions.

06/11/2025

There is no D at the end of love when someone has died. We didn’t "loved" them, we love them. Still. Always. That love doesn’t vanish when their physical presence leaves this world; it simply shifts, deepens, and finds new ways to exist. You are allowed to say their name out loud. You are allowed to tell their stories, to share the memories that make you laugh or cry or both at once. You are allowed to carry them with you, because love like that doesn’t end, it evolves.

I give you permission to scream from the mountain tops that you love them and you always will. Love is not something that anyone can take from you. Death can’t silence it, time can’t erase it, and no one gets to tell you that you should stop speaking their name. In fact, I’m learning that sometimes, after someone dies, our love for them grows even stronger, more sacred, more present, more intentional.

I will honor the ones I love for the rest of my life, and I am proud of that. I am at peace with that. And I want you to be too. Because the truth is, love doesn’t die, it simply changes form, and continues to live in us.

xo
Gabby
www.thehospiceheart.net

21/10/2025

02/10/2025

World Hospice & Palliative Care Day – 12 October 2025

The Cancer Association of Namibia (WO30) will join the global community in observing World Hospice and Palliative Care Day on Sunday, 12 October 2025, for the first time under the formal structures of its Palliative Care Namibia programme.

“Palliative care is a critical component of the overall treatment plan and should ideally begin at the point of diagnosis of a life-altering disease. Sadly, in Namibia, it is still often only introduced at the hospice or end-of-life stage. Our goal is to shift this understanding and ensure dignity, pain management and compassionate care throughout the patient journey,” said Rolf Hansen, CEO of the Cancer Association of Namibia (WO30).

The Association is proud to communicate that renovations at our Swakopmund property, which will host the Erongo regional Palliative Care Unit, have officially concluded. The recruitment and training of a specialised care team will now begin, with operations expected to commence in January 2026.

“I am further proud to announce that planning of our third palliative care unit, to be developed in Windhoek West, has commenced this week. Our architect has done a sterling job thus far, and I look forward to working on this project that will surely assist many state patients directly,” Hansen added.

To strengthen access to these services, CAN has established the Palliative Care Fund in January 2025, which aims to support financially vulnerable patients referred from the state system, but who are unable to afford private medical costs. While CAN endeavours to provide meals and accommodation with care to such vulnerable patients, this fund will cover essential medication and medical consumables critically needed for comprehensive palliative care.

“As our first initiative to support the fund, we will host a “Cupcake Sale” ahead of World Hospice and Palliative Care Day. Fellow Namibians are invited to order cupcakes by Wednesday, 8 October 2025. While this fundraiser symbolises a start, we strongly appeal to the corporate and business sector to invest in the Palliative Care Fund, as their sustained

contributions will directly impact state patients needing access to quality palliative care.” Said Hansen.
“In the same way we have established and strengthened the Patient Financial Assistance Programme of CAN, I am confident we can also build the Palliative Care Fund — to afford dignity, quality care, and especially pain management until patients take their final breath.”

How to support
• Cupcake orders: Karin Horn – reception@can.org.na | Tel. 061 237740
• Donor partnerships: Rolf Hansen – ceo@can.org.na