Each month, we publish a limited selection of items that we feel will be of interest to our global readership. Content is welcomed but please observe the criteria for inclusion:
The International Association for Hospice and Palliative Care, the International Children’s Palliative Care Network, and the Worldwide Hospice Palliative Care Alliance (WHPCA) have released a report ahead of Universal Health Coverage (UHC) Day (12 December), entitled: ‘Palliative care and the Global Goal for Health’. The aim of the report is to show how the Global Goal for Health and accompanying targets could support a focus on improving palliative care for people with life-threatening and life-limiting illness globally and to make recommendations for inclusion of palliative care within the Global Goal for Health.
The Global Goals were adopted by the leaders of 193 UN member states at the UN General Assembly in New York on 25 September 2015. They build on the Millennium Development Goals set in 2000 and consist of 17 Goals and targets. These Goals aim to build a better world by 2030, by ending poverty, promoting prosperity and well-being for all, protecting the environment and addressing climate change.
Palliative care is an important aspect of UHC, as well as other targets under Global Goal 3: ‘Good health & well-being: Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages’, specifically those involving maternal and child mortality, communicable and non-communicable diseases, substance dependence disorder (‘narcotic drug abuse’), access to essential medications, and strengthening of the health workforce. You can download the report from the WHPCA website.
In 2014, the Armenian Association for the Study of Pain created a pain-related website that is regularly updated. The site includes a palliative care section with resources on hospice and palliative medicine for Armenian practitioners, including:
Recently, we added Armenian versions of two IAHPC documents: the List of Essential Practices in Palliative Care and the Opioid Essential Prescription Package.
Sadly, in Armenia our practice in palliative care is still based largely on enthusiasm, despite legislative reforms to implement palliative medicine standards. But we continue to work, providing mobile palliative care in Yerevan at the personal level. We are also preparing a palliative care curriculum for medical residents.
Read more about the development of palliative care in Armenia on our webpage (in Armenian and English).
Thanks to Dr. Avetis Babakhanyan and Dr. Narine Movsisyan, who are co-founders of the Armenian Association for the Study of Pain and IAHPC members, for this update.
In recognition of the ongoing discussion on euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide, the Board of Directors of the European Association for Palliative Care (EAPC) commissioned this white paper from the palliative care perspective. The paper aims to provide an ethical framework for palliative care professionals on euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide, to give an overview of the available evidence and a discourse of ethical principles related to these issues.
‘Euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide: A white paper from the European Association for Palliative Care by Lukas Radbruch, Carlo Leget, Patrick Bahr, Christof Mu?ller-Busch, John Ellershaw, Franco de Conno and Paul Vanden Berghe, on behalf of the board members of the EAPC’, was published in Palliative Medicine Online First on 20 November 2015.
Download a free copy from the EAPC website in English and German. See also a special series of posts by Lukas Radbruch et al discussing key issues from the longer paper on the EAPC Blog.
International Palliative Care Network Conference 2015, under the auspices of the European Association for Palliative Care, invites you to view and download posters from this year’s exhibition. Posters cover topics from all disciplines of palliative care. Follow the links to access author information, leave comments/questions, and download posters.
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