The inaugural conference of the African Palliative Care Association in June 2004 was crucial for the 2 health professionals who attended from Cote d’Ivoire to plan a strategy for palliative care development in their country. The experiences of other practitioners on the continent provided guidance for the creation of programmes that will target people living with cancer, HIV/AIDS and other conditions. Joseph Essombo summarises the value of the conference for Cote d’Ivoire:

I think that this is the beginning of the reflection and to participate to this conference is highly important for us. It gives us the opportunity to reconsider the question of palliative care as a central question for the management and care of persons living with AIDS, but also for those ones suffering of other chronic diseases with pain as central point. It comforts us in our vision and we think that we can bring all the support that the health ministry will need. I think of mobilizing human resources ... in Africa and that we met here, of relating to experiences that have worked out well and that we heard about here, to really help the health ministry of Côte d’Ivoire to set up a palliative care program and to integrate it not only for patients living with AIDS but also for all patients suffering and who have a problem of pain management.⁸