Government approves palliative care regulations for oncological and chronic patients

The Executive Branch approved the Regulations for Law No. 30846, the Law creating the National Palliative Care Plan for Oncological and Non-Oncological Diseases, through Supreme Decree No. 015-2026-SA. The regulation was signed at the Government House in Lima on September 11, 2026, and published in the Saturday, September 12, 2026, edition of the Official Gazette El Peruano, in the Legal Norms section.

The regulations, consisting of two chapters and nine articles, aim to establish the technical and regulatory provisions for the implementation of the National Palliative Care Plan, with the purpose of improving the quality of life of people suffering from diseases that require such care, as well as that of their families and environment.

National Scope and Obligated Entities

The regulation has national scope and is applicable to the organs and bodies of the Ministry of Health (MINSA), the Social Health Insurance (EsSalud), as well as the Health Services of the Armed Forces (FFAA) and the National Police of Peru (PNP). It also extends to the Regional Health Directorates (DIRESA), Regional Health Managements (GERESA), and the Integrated Health Network Directorates (DIRIS) of Metropolitan Lima.

The decree was endorsed by four Ministers of State:

• Rafael Jorge Belaunde Llosa, Minister of Defense.
• César Augusto Astudillo Salcedo, Minister of the Interior.
• Luis Williams Dyer Fernández, Minister of Health.
• Juan Manuel Kosme Sheput Moore, Minister of Labor and Employment Promotion.

The regulation was signed by the President of the Republic, Keiko Sofía Fujimori Higuchi.

Content of the National Palliative Care Plan

The regulations define palliative care as the care offered to patients of all ages and their families who suffer from a severe disease—generally chronic, progressive, incurable, and untreatable—with the objective of improving their quality of life through the prevention and relief of physical, psychological, social, or spiritual suffering. Care does not end with the death of the person, but continues with bereavement support for the family.

The National Palliative Care Plan (PLANCP) is multi-annual, with a duration of three years, and contemplates various modalities of care:

• Intramural care in palliative care services, hospital consultation, palliative emergencies, and outpatient care.
• Virtual care via telemedicine: teleconsultation, teleconsultation (inter-consultation), telemonitoring, and tele-guidance.
• Mental health care with a community approach.
• Hospital-at-home care and home care.
• Care in extramural settings such as shelters, hospices, protected homes, Residential Care Centers (CAR), and Care Centers for Older Adults (CEAPAM).
• Support interventions, support groups, and psychosocial support for patients, family members, and caregivers.

Financing and regulatory framework

The implementation of the regulation is financed through the institutional budget of the involved entities, without requiring additional resources from the Public Treasury. The regulation is based on Law No. 26842, General Health Law, and Legislative Decree No. 1161, which approves the Law on Organization and Functions of the Ministry of Health, recognizing MINSA as the governing body of the sector.

The Multisectoral Commission for Regulatory Quality declared that the regulation is excluded from the scope of the Regulatory Impact Analysis (Ex Ante RIA) and the Regulatory Quality Analysis (Ex Ante RQA), in accordance with the exception provided in the Regulation of Legislative Decree No. 1565.

The approval of this regulation, mandated by the First Complementary Transitory Provision of Law No. 30846, constitutes a key step in ensuring the inclusion of palliative care within the National Health System. Consequently, oncology and chronic patients in advanced or terminal stages, as well as their families and caregivers, will have a regulatory framework that ensures comprehensive, humanized care with an intercultural approach throughout the national territory.

Source: Official Gazette El Peruano, Saturday, September 12, 2026, Legal Norms section, page 23 (official reference: Supreme Decree No. 015-2026-SA).