International Association for Hospice & Palliative Care

International Association for Hospice & Palliative Care

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Promoting Hospice & Palliative Care Worldwide

 

2006; Volume 7, No 6, June

 
IAHPC

IAHPC NEWS ONLINE

Main Index:

IAHPC's Homepage

Dr. Lee Jong-wook,
WHO Director-General dies

Message from the Chair & Executive Director:
Kathleen M. Foley, MD
Liliana De Lima, MHA

Article of the Month:
Dr. Ripamonti

IAHPC Traveling
Scholar’s Report

Book Reviews:
Roger Woodruff, MD

What’s New?

IAHPC’s launches a NEW Hospice and Palliative Care Job Center

Meetings and
Conferences

Webmaster's Corner:
Anne Laidlaw

Thank you notes

On Our Website:

IAHPC's Homepage

Many ways to help support palliative care.

Book Shop for Hospice & Palliative Care Books

Past Issues of the
IAHPC News On-line


IAHPC Membership

Hospice Palliative Care
Job Board

Meetings and Events

Travelling Fellow Reports

Many Ways You Can
Help The IAHPC

IAHPC Press

Site Map Directory

Donate to the IAHPC

IAHPC Newsletter Team

William Farr,
PhD, MD
Editor

Liliana De Lima, MHA
Coordinator

Alou Design/Webmaster
Layout and Distribution

To send an email to one of the IAHPC Newsletter team members,
Click Here

Meetings and Conferences

2006 Summer Seminar in Health Care Ethics

Sponsored by the University of Washington School of Medicine

July 31st-August 4, 2006
University of Washington Campus

For information and registration:
Continuing Medical Education
1325 4th Ave. Suite 2000
Seattle WA 98101-2506
www.uwcme.org

 

October 7th is World Hospice
and Palliative Care Day 2006

Events planned in over 70 countries around the world

World Hospice and Palliative Care Day is a unified day of action to celebrate and support hospice and palliative care around the world. Now in its second year, World Hospice and Palliative Care Day 2006 takes place on October 7th 2006.

The theme for World Hospice and Palliative Care Day 2006 is Access to Care for All ­ highlighting the fact that everyone has a right to high quality end of life care but that more needs to be done to enable everyone to access it.

The best way to start is to visit the official website www.worldday.org which will be updated regularly and will provide all kinds of information and tips on ways to get involved. Organizations and individuals may also email with enquiries or suggestions to www.worldday.org

Thousands of people around the world will be staging events to raise awareness and fundraise for hospice and palliative care services locally, nationally and internationally to mark this annual global event. The theme this year is Access to Care for All, highlighting that millions of people who desperately need care at the end of life, aren't getting it.

Activities this year will include events around the themes of walking and poetry. Many different types of events are anticipated, including walks, poetry readings, exhibitions, competitions, rallies, conferences and street parties. In the UK the day will also be marked by the publication of an in-depth report about access to hospice and palliative care services.

The first ever World Hospice and Palliative Care Day took place in October 2005 with more than 1100 events taking place in 74 countries. It was launched by HRH Princess Anne in London , and supported by Archbishop Desmond Tutu who described it as "an important global event".

There are currently around 8,000 hospice and palliative care services in 110 countries. The first modern hospice ­ which inspired the global hospice movement - was St Christopher's in London , founded in 1967 by Dame Cicely Saunders, who died on 14th July 2005, at St Christopher's.

Around the world, over one million people die every week.

* 34.9 million people in the world currently have HIV/AIDS, and 3.1 million people died of AIDS in 2004.

* There are currently six million cancer deaths and over 10 million new cases of cancer every year, rising to 15 million by 2020.

* It is estimated that 100 million people could benefit from basic palliative care every year. This number is made up of 33 million people dying (60% of the total number dying in the world each year) and their 66 million family members, companions or carers (based on a conservative estimate of two people giving care and support for every person that dies). The actual number of people that receive palliative care is far lower. Although Sub-Saharan Africa has twice as many deaths per 1000 head of population annually as North America, it has only 1.5% of global palliative care resources compared to 55% in North America .

* The secretariat for World Hospice and Palliative Care Day is provided by Help the Hospices, the UK charity for the hospice movement, which supports over 220 local hospices in their vital work on the front line of caring for people who face the end of life. Hospices provide a wide range of care, from in-patient beds to day care or care for people in their own homes. The UK government contributes an average of 34% of running costs for adult hospices in England and 5% for children's (note: based on latest figures available) ­ the rest has to be obtained through charitable fundraising. For more information on Help the Hospices visit www.helpthehospices.org.uk

World Hospice and Palliative Care Day 2006

FAQs

1) What is World Hospice and Palliative Care Day?

World Hospice and Palliative Care Day is a unified day of action to celebrate and support hospice and palliative care around the world. Now in its second year, World Hospice and Palliative Care Day 2006 takes place on October 7th 2006.

The theme for World Hospice and Palliative Care Day 2006 is Access to Care for All ­ highlighting the fact that everyone has a right to high quality end of life care but that more needs to be done to enable everyone to access it.

2) What are the aims of World Hospice and Palliative Care Day?

Every year, millions of people around the world living with a terminal illness experience unnecessary pain and distress, either unaware of or unable to access the care they need. High quality hospice and palliative care which aims to meet the needs of the whole person can and does, provide an answer. This is an issue that affects literally everybody on the planet ­ we would all like our lives ­ and the lives of those we love ­ to end peacefully and comfortably.

The day has three key aims:

* To share our vision to increase the availability of hospice and palliative care throughout the world. To create opportunities to speak out about the issues which affect provision of hospice and palliative care around the world (this year particularly ­ access to care for all), to influence opinion formers including health care funders and policy makers

* To raise awareness and understanding of the needs ­ medical, social, practical, spiritual - of people living with a terminal diagnosis and their families. To explain how hospice and palliative care can transform people's lives and to show how it can help to meet those needs

* To raise funds to support and develop hospice and palliative care services around the world

3) What kinds of issues does World Hospice and Palliative Care Day hope to raise awareness of year on year?

First and foremost we hope the Day helps to increase understanding of hospice and palliative care and how it supports those facing the end of life.

* It's not about 'helping someone die' but instead about helping someone to live as comfortably as possible with their illness. It's about seeing them as a living person, not a dying patient. It's supporting those closest to them and adding life to days, whether or not days can be added to lives.

This means much more than just specialist symptom and pain relief ­ although that is a very important part of it. It's a holistic approach that respects the individual's wishes and helps them in ways appropriate to them, both individually and culturally

* It is flexible and adaptable ­ it's a way of caring, not a building. In many situations, care can be provided at the person's home ­ for example with drop-in support from a specialist health worker or trained volunteer

* It doesn't have to be expensive. There are low cost drugs, treatments and ways of giving support which can make all the difference to the quality of people's lives. But this knowledge needs to be shared ­ and the work involved in setting up and running such programs funded.

4) What specific issues affecting access to hospice and palliative care today are we hoping to highlight through World Hospice and Palliative Care Day this year?

* The vast majority of people in the world do not have access to hospice and palliative care, causing great and preventable suffering;

* The right to palliative care is a universal human right;

* It is often in the areas of greatest need ­ i.e. resource poor countries with high levels of disease and high mortality rates ­ that hospice and palliative care services are least in evidence. This must change;

* All countries should include palliative care in their core national health care provision;

* There is an urgent need for greater and more secure funding to support hospice and palliative care services world-wide;

* There is an urgent need for essential low cost opioid analgesics for pain and symptom control to be made available, particularly in resource-poor countries;

* Palliative care can be extremely cost efficient (low cost of morphine, use of trained volunteers to support work of healthcare professionals, etc.)

* There is a need to extend and develop the lessons learned in hospice and palliative care into wider disease groups, particularly in relation to the HIV Aids pandemic

* There is a need to improve access to palliative care for people in resource-poor countries ­ particularly in rural areas. Also to reach marginalized groups throughout the world, such as prisoners, the homeless and those with special needs such as learning difficulties;

* There is a need to integrate hospice and palliative care into all health care professionals' education programs, both under graduate and post graduate;

* Palliative care should not be a last resort but should be provided concurrently with disease treatment such as ARVs or cancer treatment. The World Health Organization and other international agencies believe that palliative care is an essential element of care and treatment

5) Who is organizing the Day?

The day is for anyone and everyone who cares about or is involved in hospice and palliative care anywhere in the world, whether a person living with a terminal illness, a health worker, a volunteer or supporter. It is not 'owned' by any one organization and has been developed by the following partner organizations:

* African Palliative Care Association

* Asia Pacific Hospice Palliative Care Network

* Palliative Care Australia

* Canadian Hospice Palliative Care Association

* European Association for Palliative Care

* Eastern and Central European Palliative Care Task Force

* Help the Hospices - UK Irish Hospice Foundation

* Indian Association for Palliative Care

* International Association for Hospice and Palliative Care

* International Observatory on End of Life Care at Lancaster University ­ UK

* Latin American Association for Palliative Care

* National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization - US

* Open Society Institute ­ US

* Voices for Hospices

6) How can I get involved in World Hospice and Palliative Care Day?

The best way to start is to visit the official website www.worldday.org which will be updated regularly and will provide all kinds of information and tips on ways to get involved. Organizations and individuals may also email with enquiries or suggestions to worldday.

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