Final meeting of the "League": achievements and plans

In 2018, to increase the number of the NGO "Ukrainian League for the Development of Palliative and Hospice Care", without deteriorating the quality indicators of work, to join the supervisory boards of medical institutions that provide palliative and hospice care - these and other decisions were made during the final meeting of the "League". which took place in the last days of December.

The "League" is developing and the number of members of the organization is growing, but we need to outline much more serious tasks and encourage the state to make those decisions that it should implement in the field of palliative and hospice care within the framework of the reform," stressed Vasyl Knyazevich, chairman of the board of the "League". He recalled that at the end of 2017, the government signed about 20 resolutions that allow the medical reform to be launched. "We should determine where we should defend the interests of our patients and we will definitely recommend representatives of the League to the supervisory boards of medical institutions." The next step will be the introduction of ethics committees in medical institutions," Knyazevich informed.

As noted during the report, the "League" currently includes 24 regional organizations and one in Kyiv. The main tasks that the centers worked on were:

• expanding the activities of regional structures through the creation of city and district centers;
• analysis of the state of palliative care in the regions;
• studying the issue of palliative patients' access to analgesia;
• planning and carrying out palliative care week events for the World Day of Palliative and Hospice Care;
• establishment of cooperation with charitable organizations, religious denominations;
• sanitary and educational work;
• providing volunteer assistance to hospices and palliative departments.