More than 128·6 million people across 33 countries require life-saving humanitarian assistance, 92·8 million of whom are particularly vulnerable. Palliative care, however, has been omitted from efforts to tackle humanitarian crises. Palliative care is, according to WHO, “an approach that improves the quality of life of patients and their families facing the problems associated with life-threatening illness, through the prevention and relief of suffering”. We propose holistic palliative care as an integral component of relief strategies.