ABSTRACT
Population aging is a powerful demographic transformation that is rapidly challenging healthcare infrastructure globally. This phenomenon steadily intensified at the turn of the twenty-first century, and we are only beginning to fully comprehend its impacts at national and global levels. The extensive debate of whether we live longer and healthier lives or suffer from poor health and inappropriate treatments continues as we witness the growing service disparities between medical and social care systems that fail to establish high quality palliative care for all. This chapter examines the end-oflife challenges faced by older people suffering from chronic life-limiting illnesses, and argues that the only way to protect their dignity at life’s final and most vulnerable moments is to ensure that palliative care becomes a basic human right.
