ORANJESTAD (AAN) – Aruba Seeks Home Infusion Pumps for Palliative Care Patients as healthcare professionals and the Fundashon Ultimo Deseo Aruba (FUDA) work to introduce portable infusion pump treatment that would allow terminally ill patients to receive specialized pain management in their own homes.
The initiative began after a local patient in the final stage of life expressed a wish to spend her remaining days at home surrounded by family rather than in the hospital. While hospitalized, her severe pain was controlled with a morphine infusion pump, but that treatment is currently unavailable for home use in Aruba.
According to Renate Raven, President of Fundashon Ultimo Deseo Aruba (FUDA), fulfilling the patient’s final wish highlighted a significant gap in Aruba’s palliative care system.
Although portable infusion pumps have been used for years in several other countries to manage severe pain outside hospital settings, the option is not yet available in Aruba.
Recognizing that the issue extends beyond a single patient, FUDA established a multidisciplinary project group consisting of medical specialists, family physicians, pharmacists, nurses, and other healthcare professionals. The group is working to develop a safe and responsible framework that would allow specialized pain treatment through portable infusion pumps to be provided in patients’ homes.
According to the project team, the challenge has existed for many years and is linked to several factors, including the absence of appropriate legislation, funding mechanisms, and sufficient expertise in home-based palliative care.
As a result, the initiative focuses not only on introducing the medical equipment but also on developing the necessary legal framework, quality standards, professional training, and implementation procedures.
In recent months, the project group has held discussions with the Minister of Public Health, policy advisors, the Hospital Board, AZV, the Public Health Inspectorate, the Department of Public Health (DVG), the Healthcare Quality Institute, the Department of Elderly Affairs, and the Chair of Parliament’s Health and Elderly Care Committee.
The group said the urgency of improving palliative care is now widely recognized, and the proposal has received attention from multiple healthcare and government organizations.
Project members expressed appreciation for the willingness of participating institutions to collaborate and stressed the importance of moving forward quickly. They believe every patient deserves access to appropriate palliative care in the right place and at the right time.
According to the project team, new legislation would create an opportunity to introduce portable home infusion pumps, enabling terminally ill patients to receive specialized pain management while remaining in the comfort of their own homes whenever medically appropriate.
The initiative aims to strengthen Aruba’s future palliative care system by placing patients and their families at the center of end-of-life care, allowing more people to spend their final days in familiar surroundings without unnecessary suffering.
