Lukas Radbruch, Chair of the Scientific Committee, and Sheila Payne, President of the European Association for Palliative Care (EAPC)
This is the last announcement for the 13th World Congress on Palliative Care, organised
Professor Sheila Payne
by the EAPC in Prague in six weeks’ time (from 30 May to 2 June).
Professor Lukas Radbruch
We hope that you have already registered for the congress. If not, please consider doing so, as the congress does not only offer an exciting programme, but you also have the ‘Golden City’ into the bargain! Easy to reach, nice to be there with friends and colleagues from palliative care all over Europe, and a lot of sightseeing too…
The Prague Charter will be highlighted in several sessions in the congress, and the congress theme of ‘Palliative care as a human right’ will be picked up by José Martin-Moreno (from WHO Regional Office for Europe) in his plenary talk, but also in other plenaries, such as the one by Cynthia Goh (President of the Asian Pacific Palliative Care Association) on ‘Cultural and Economical Appropriate Palliative Care’.
Other plenaries will be delivered by renowned experts such as Vicki Jackson highlighting the breakthrough work of the Harvard research group on the beneficial effects of early integration of palliative care; Ladislav Volicer examining the relationship of dementia care and palliative care; Carlo Leget on spirituality; Peter Speck discussing team work in palliative care; Joan Marston on the transition from childhood to adolescence and how this relates to palliative care provision, and Friedemann Nauck on pain and symptom control in the final stage of life. Another highlight will be the Floriani lecture, to be given by René Schaerer, one of the pioneers of palliative care in Europe, who also will provide insights into the development of palliative care in the French-speaking countries of Europe.
There will also be parallel sessions, workshops, open communications and poster presentations presenting innovative breakthrough work from EAPC task forces and workgroups, as well as from research groups across the world.
The congress is linked closely to the Prague Charter, advocating access to palliative care as a human right. The Prague Charter is a joint action programme of the European Association for Palliative Care (EAPC), International Association for Palliative Care (IAHPC), Worldwide Palliative Care Alliance (WPCA) and Human Rights Watch (HRW). More information can be found on the EAPC Prague Charter website. We are collecting stories about best care, and also worst case stories; if you have such a story, we would be very happy to publish it on the EAPC blog and on the website.
You will be able to hear more about the Prague Charter at the congress. We would like to use the congress as a platform to hear from you whether palliative care, or parts of it, are acknowledged as a human right in your country. Is there any legislation on pain, access to opioids or other essential medicines or palliative care in general?
Come to Prague and discuss with us, and maybe discuss options on how to engage on a national or European level to urge your government to ensure access to palliative care as a human right!
To contribute worst and best case stories…
If you would like to contribute a story that demonstrates the need for palliative care, or the benefits of good palliative care, please review existing stories on the Prague Charter website where you’ll also find instructions on how to submit your story. You can also find more information on contributing to the EAPC blog in our Contributor’s Guidelines.
EAPC Blog 