Sanofi Collective - Foundation S Stands Behind Transformative Children's Palliative Care Project in Kenya
A significant grant from the Foundation S - the Sanofi Collective will enable a transformative three-year project delivering comprehensive grief and bereavement care to families affected by childhood cancer in Kenya. This is about more than funding: it’s about ensuring families are seen, supported and not left to navigate their most challenging moments alone. Foundation S’s investment is a significant milestone in integrating grief and social-emotional support into healthcare systems - an area too often overlooked, yet essential to the dignity and well-being of children and those who love them.
The landmark grant invests over €300,000 to catalyse change, led by a strong partnership of dedicated organisations. Headed by AMPATH, the project group is strategically diverse. It includes the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital (MTRH), Sally Test Child Life Department at Shoe4Africa within the Medical Social Work Department at MTRH, Faraja Cancer Support Trust, Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH), the TEARS Foundation Kenya and Global Treehouse.
The project also benefits from a technical advisory team that includes the Kenya Hospices and Palliative Care Association (KEHPCA), the National Cancer Control Program (NCCP), Global HOPE Texas Children’s Global Health, Princess Máxima International, St. Jude Global Palliative Care, Global Treehouse and researcher Callie Daniels-Howell. St. Jude Global Palliative Care is also a co-funder of the project. Together, this expertise supports the expansion of essential bereavement care.
In Kenya, approximately 3,000 children are diagnosed with cancer each year. Yet the country’s paediatric oncology system faces significant challenges—including late diagnoses, low survival rates and limited access to supportive care. Fewer than 5% of children and their families receive holistic palliative care services (KEHPCA, 2021). For many, the journey includes long and arduous travel to regional treatment centres, compounding an already overwhelming experience. When a child dies, the grief is profound—and too often, families are left without the bereavement support they need. This gap underscores the urgent need to expand compassionate, family-centred palliative and grief care across the country.
This collaborative initiative builds upon the momentum of the existing KEHPCA Children’s Palliative Care initiative, which has been funded by Foundation S since 2022. It is informed by recent, in-depth research in Kenya exploring the experiences of child loss resulting from childhood cancer.
The project’s overall goal is to deliver appropriate, context-specific grief and bereavement care through capacity building and health system strengthening during and after the cancer care of their child. The collaborative group aims to serve 100 healthcare workers, 200 family members and 200 paediatric oncology patients over three years through three key areas:
Building Workforce Capacity and Strengthening the Health System: The project will train healthcare workers, including physicians, nurses and psychosocial workers in culturally sensitive grief, bereavement and end-of-life care. These co-designed trainings, reinforced through refresher sessions, will equip existing staff with the skills to deliver compassionate support, enhancing their confidence and emotional resilience and strengthening the healthcare system's response to end-of-life care and child loss.
Empowering Families: Family members will have access to grief and bereavement support through the development of a bereaved parent advisory network, peer-led bereavement support groups, sibling visitation, counselling and legacy activities. The initiative will launch peer-led bereavement groups, with bereaved parents trained as peer facilitators to provide long-term, sustainable, community-grounded support.
Supporting Children: Integrated psychosocial care will be provided to paediatric oncology patients within hospitals. This will reduce anxiety and enhance children’s and adolescents' understanding of their illness through targeted therapy activities, art therapy and legacy-building, enabling children to emotionally and psychologically process their serious illness and improve their emotional well-being.
The partners are taking a collaborative approach to compassionate care by training providers, empowering bereaved families and integrating grief care into healthcare structures. This initiative aims to create lasting change, reduce stigma and strengthen Kenya’s healthcare system to provide ongoing support for grieving families. The project is designed for long-term sustainability by embedding all activities within well-established institutions already serving children and families affected by cancer.
Together, the partners will empower families, support children and advance children’s palliative care and bereavement support in Kenya, an area of care often neglected but a fundamental human right for children and their families.