Europe Faces Major Inequalities in Palliative Care, New Report Warns
Helsinki, 29 May 2025
A new report launched today has revealed deep-rooted disparities in the provision of
palliative care across Europe, raising serious concerns about access to essential services
for people with life-limiting illnesses. An analysis of 56 countries led by the Global
Palliative Care Observatory ATLANTES of the Institute for Culture and Society (ICS) of
the University of Navarra and the European Association for Palliative Care, present the
most detailed and comprehensive overview to date of how countries are responding to the
growing demand for palliative support.
The release of the Atlas coincides with European Palliative Care Day 2025, marked this
year under the theme “Equitable and Accessible Palliative Care for All”. The report and
campaign together issue a clear call to action: that access to pain relief and quality care
should not depend on geography, wealth, diagnosis, or age.
According to the Atlas, a significant number of European countries still fail to include
palliative care in the core education of medical and nursing students. Only fifteen nations,
among them Austria, Finland, France, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, have
integrated palliative care into the curricula of all medical schools. Elsewhere, the absence
of formal education leaves future healthcare professionals ill-equipped to address the
needs of patients facing serious illness or the end of life.
Carlos Centeno, head of the research team behind the Atlas, explained, “this edition
represents a leap in quality compared to previous reports. The improvement is due to a
more rigorous methodology based on the latest World Health Organization framework and
the involvement of over 200 palliative care experts. Yet the data clearly show that much
work remains to ensure equitable access to palliative care education and services across
Europe.”
Access to essential medicines also remains a critical issue. While 83 percent of Western
European countries report widespread availability of oral morphine and similar pain-relief
drugs, only 30 percent of countries in Central and Eastern Europe can say the same. The
report argues that such disparities have a direct and measurable impact on human
suffering, with geography emerging as a major determinant of whether patients receive
adequate care.
The European Atlas also shows modest but meaningful progress in the development of
paediatric palliative care. In 2025, 41 countries now offer some form of palliative services
for children, an improvement from 38 in 2019. Nevertheless, the authors stress that
availability remains far below what is needed to meet the needs of vulnerable young
people and their families.
A similarly uneven picture emerges when it comes to national policy and legal recognition.
Only nine countries in Europe have adopted specific laws addressing palliative care.
Among them is Austria, which recently passed legislation formally recognising palliative
care as a legal right and committing to its public funding. The Atlas describes this as a
decisive step forward and calls on other governments to follow suit.
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Although the number of specialised palliative care services across Europe has increased
by approximately 10 percent since 2019 (reaching more than 7,000 in total) there remain
stark differences in service availability between regions. Countries such as Austria,
Switzerland and Sweden have more than double the European average of services per
100,000 people, while several nations in Central Asia and Eastern Europe fall dramatically
short of international recommendations.
Despite the challenges, the EAPC remains optimistic about the potential for change.
Joanne Brennan, CEO of the association, emphasised that palliative care is not solely
about supporting people at the end of life, but about improving quality of life throughout
the course of serious illness. She called on national governments, health systems, and
European institutions to treat palliative care as a public health priority.
“The need for palliative care is rising across Europe, driven by ageing populations and the
increasing prevalence of chronic disease,” said Joanne Brennan. “This is about more than
just medicine. It’s about valuing each person, fairness, and human rights. Access to relief
from pain and suffering should not depend on where someone lives.”
The European Palliative Care Day campaign aims to raise awareness of these issues and
promote coordinated action at national and European levels. Through advocacy,
education, and stakeholder engagement, the EAPC hopes to close the gap between need
and provision and ensure that everyone has access to high-quality, compassionate care,
regardless of circumstance.
The Atlas of Palliative Care in Europe 2025 is freely available on the websites of the
EAPC and the University of Navarra and serves as both a research tool and an advocacy
resource for policymakers, clinicians, and civil society.
For further information, visit: https://eapcnet.eu/EU-palliative-care-day/
To access the European ATLAS: www.eapcnet.eu/resources/EAPCAtlas
The ICS UNAV Press Room: https://www.unav.edu/web/atlantes-global-observatory-of
palliative-care/monitoring/press-room/