A study of 95 children referred for palliative care was carried out at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital in southern Malawi, to determine the prevalence of different symptoms and signs. Seventy-seven percent of the children had HIV, 17% had cancer and 6% had a variety of other diagnoses. The commonest symptoms spontaneously presented by patients and carers were pain (27%) cough (22%) and diarrhoea (18%). Pain was significantly more common among children with cancer than those with HIV/AIDS. Cough, diarrhoea and mouth sores were significantly more common in those with HIV/AIDS. Many symptoms were not volunteered initially, but were revealed on direct questioning. This uncovered that 84% had a history of weight loss, 56% had fever and 51% had mouth sores. The commonest physical signs were wasting (76%), lymphadenopathy (40%) and oral candida (40%). Forty-seven percent of children with HIV had either lost their mother or had a mother who was sick. The wide range of physical symptoms and frequency of sickness or death in the children's mothers demonstrates the need for palliative care to be holistic, addressing the manifold physical, emotional and social problems associated with chronic and terminal illness.