Dear Readers,
This month there are two important issues related to global palliative care: one is concerning the World Health Organization (WHO), the other the United Nations (UN).
Palliative care is a core component of universal health care and it is included in the WHO definition of UHC: ‘Universal health coverage means that all people and communities can use the promotive, preventive, curative, rehabilitative, and palliative health services they need, of sufficient quality to be effective, while also ensuring that the use of these services does not expose the user to financial hardship.’ One of the challenges in the progress of palliative care has been a lack of consensus on what palliative care is, what it is not, when it should be applied, to whom and by whom. The terms ‘palliative care’ and ‘hospice care’ have been used for many years with different interpretations and several PC organizations have, in turn, adopted their own definitions.
This month we are undertaking an exciting project with the WHO to revise the current definition of palliative care.
The objective of this project is to develop, based on consensus, a palliative care definition that is focused on the relief of avoidable suffering that is timely and applicable to all patients in need, including children, adults, older persons, and other vulnerable population groups regardless of their diagnosis, prognosis, geographic location, point of care, and income level. The resulting definition from this process shall specify the necessary and sufficient conditions for PC and list all its components.
We have sent invitations to 600 members of IAHPC — who were randomly selected by a computer program — to participate in a survey where they can rate their level of agreement with the proposed components of the definition. Please check your inboxes and spam folders in case you may have missed our email.
Once we finalize this consultation and consensus phase we will continue working with the WHO to finalize the definition. We are very glad to be able to bring in the participation of IAHPC members to this project!
The second issue, described by Dr. Katherine Pettus in her Advocacy Report, is the Zero Draft for a UN Political Declaration and a General Assembly Resolution on Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs). This draft was done by Italy and Uruguay and does not include palliative care. We are hoping that many member states will request the inclusion of palliative care so that it is not buried under control of NCDs but is stated as a unique and separate strategy. Please read Dr. Pettus’s piece to learn more about how you can be involved!
Until next month,
Lukas Radbruch, MD
Chair, Board of Directors
Liliana De Lima, MHA
Executive Director
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