The government has unveiled plans to give people more choice over where they die.
Health secretary Alan Johnson and care service minister Ivan Lewis on Wednesday set out a package of measures to improve care for the dying.
This included giving more support to those who wish to die at home and to their carers.
The 10-year strategy for England also contains measures to improve training for staff and community nurses.
Johnson said the government was putting £286m into the project over the next three years.
However, he told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme that some media were refusing to cover the story because it was "too depressing for their viewers and listeners".
"The most important objective is to ensure that people's individual needs, their priorities, their preferences for end-of-life care are identified, they are documented, they are reviewed, they are respected and acted upon wherever possible," he said.
"That message has to go out everywhere within the NHS and that's the important starting point for everything else: if you conduct everything you do around these issues on the basis of the individual and their carer, what would they prefer, and then you draw up a car plan for them and put that into force."
He added: "You go back to the beginning of the 20th century and people were familiar with death - many people died at home, they died of diseases at a young age.
"When the NHS came along... as a result, people die in hospitals whether they want to or not, and sometimes there are issues about how they die in hospitals.
"But the big issue for us today is to give the choice to everyone."Stakeholder response: Help the Hospices
David Praill, chief executive of Help the Hospices, said: "Death is a fact of life, yet as a society we often shy away from thinking about it until we have no choice. Making care at the end of life a greater health and social care priority is a significant and welcome step forward and we are encouraged to see additional funding with the strategy. It is essential that this extra money is translated into better care for all.
"Hospices have a major part to play in both helping us to talk about death and in providing choice for patients. That choice isn’t just between dying in hospital or at home but about ensuring people receive the support they need, when they need it so they can live well until they die – wherever that may be. Most hospice care is provided in people’s own homes.
"We look forward to working with the Department of Health, Primary Care Trusts and other providers to make sure that priority is given and resources allocated to improving care for all."
Jonathan Ellis, director of public policy and parliamentary affairs at Help the Hospices, added: "More of us will be approaching the end of life with complex needs, and stronger partnerships between social services, health services and charitable hospices are vital if we are to stand any chance of meeting them. We look forward to the opportunity the strategy presents to embed the kind of person-centred care that hospices provide – something that patients tell us makes all the different to their experience."
