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THE
COUNCIL OF EUROPE (COE)
“Recommendation
REC 24 (2003) of the Committee of Ministers
End
of 2003 the COE released a document on palliative care with
the title “Recommendation REC 24 (2003) of the
Committee of Ministers to member states on the organisation
of Palliative Care”. which was approved and
adopted on 12 November 2003, by all ministers of Health in
the 45 countries in the Council of Europe. Each Ministry of
Health has received copies of the document in either English
or French.
Download
On
the web site of the Council of Europe (CoE) you can view the
summary of the recommendations, 8 pages.
This
report is the product of intense collaborative work involving
a range of participants from many countries. The final recommendations,
supported by the accompanying memorandum, define a new standard
in palliative care provision across member states.
Specifically,
member states have now agreed to adopt policies, legislative
and other measures necessary for a coherent and comprehensive
national policy framework for palliative care. The report
recognises that palliative care is a vital and integral part
of health services. Any person who needs palliative care should
be able to access such care without undue bureaucracy or delay,
and in a setting that is consistent with individual need and
choice. The report highlights the need for structured programmes
of education, training and research.
The
decision to adopt this report is indicative of the commitment
of member states to develop palliative care services to the
highest possible standards. The success of this report will
be judged on the extent to which we develop and implement
programmes of palliative care, that are capable of reaching
out and addressing the needs of individual patients and families
throughout the 45 member states.
Shared
action on the Recommendations on palliative care
When
adopting the report, member states agreed to promote international
networking between palliative care agencies, and further agreed
to support an active, targeted dissemination of these recommendations.
What:
The EAPC Board of Directors decided to promote a shared action
on those Recommendations on palliative care 24(2003). In February
2004 the EAPC East
Centre in Stockholm contacted the EAPC Collective
members and other National Associations to propose a common
action with the goal to make these approved and signed palliative
care recommendations well known by professionals, health care
administrators and politicians and also lay people and spread
all over Europe.
When: the activities were focused around
the second week of October 2004 with the peak on October 11.
How: Local organisers in palliative care
organisations in collaboration with EAPC-east office have
translated, printed and distributed the recommendations. The
recommendations have become a tool to use for information
and lobbying. A media campaign, seminars and discussions have
been the means to spread the content of the recommendations.
According
to the latest update of 05 November 2004 the document will
be available in at least 17 different languages all
over Europe.
The translations have in many cases been done totally on a
voluntary basis and in “spare” time. The recommendations
are available in: Croatian, Dutch, English, French, Georgian,
German, Greek, Hungarian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Polish, Romanian,
Russian, Serbian, Swedish, Turkish, Ukrainian so far….!
This means that more than 600 million Europeans, politicians,
professionals, general public etc will be able to read the
recommendations in their own language.
In
most languages the recommendations will be printed in the
same format and will therefore look the same. Printing costs
have been hard to obtain in some countries and easier in others
but efforts have been made and many have successfully received
funding for printing.
Copies
in English and French
Some did not succeed to achieve funding and if you do not
have translations made in your language and would like to
spread and work with the recommendations there will be printed
copies available through the Council of Europe. They will
print copies in English and in French. If you are interested
in receiving copies in English or French please get in touch
with Piotr Mierzewski e-mail: Piotr.MIERZEWSKI@coe.int
Press
Conferences in October
In Hungary, Poland and Sweden press conferences with were
held on October 11. Media representatives were invited and
many responded to the calls. The activities have led to radio,
TV and newspaper interviews and reports. In Poland the minister
of health was present at the press conference as well as a
representative from the Council of Europe who also attended.
In Sweden the health minister has also been personally informed
about the Recommendations. This was a good opportunity to
get in touch and discuss palliative care on a national level.
We know that there have been palliative care conferences in
Croatia and in Serbia in October and the Recommendations have
been in focus also there. We know of plans to write reports
in national medical journals. There are still great opportunities
to use the Recommendations in all the countries of Europe,
we have just started. particularly in those where a blot of
personal effort have made translations available.
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