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Report 1st Congress
of the EAPC
Paris,
France, October 1990
In
December 1988, the EAPC Board of Directors invited a group
of three French founding members to organise its first Congress
in France, which was held in October 1990 in Paris. The major
aim of this Congress was to obtain the best media coverage
possible in order to spread information about the EAPC and
palliative care.
The
participation of personalities, such as the French President,
François Mitterand, the French Minister for Health
and Social Affairs, Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent,
the President of the Conseil National de l'Ordre des Médecins
and the Director of the Cancer and Palliative Care Unit of
the World Health Organization, gives an idea of its social
impact at both a national and European level. The official
languages were English and French, for which simultaneous
translation was available.
There
were 1,630 participants from 23 countries and about 50 journalists
were present. During the three days of the Congress, more
than 30 French and European journals and magazines published
articles about palliative care, and all French television
channels and several radio stations reported the event. Sixty-five
invited speakers from different countries participated in
the Scientific Programme and 105 posters were presented during
the Congress by teams from numerous European countries and
also from outside Europe.
Distribution
of the different professions among the participants was as
follows: 815 nurses (50%) and 414 physicians (27%). The other
groups were: 105 volunteers, 59 psychologists, 36 social workers,
25 auxiliaries, 25 pastoral counsellors, professional trainers,
physiotherapists, chemists, hospital administrators, dietitians
and speech therapists. More than half of the participants
had never attended a congress of such size, which explains
the variety of criticism and suggestions expressed during
the three days.
Support
and contributions were obtained from the following official
organisations and associations: Commission of the European
Community, French Ministry of Health, Ligue Française
pour la Lutte Contre le Cancer.
The Joint Chairs of the Organising Committee were Professor
Maurice Abiven and Dr Michèle Salamagne from France.
The Chair of the Scientific Committee was Professor Geoffrey
Hanks from the UK.
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