The Worldwide Hospice Palliative Care Alliance (WHPCA) and the International Children’s Palliative Care Network (ICPCN) have announced the theme for World Hospice and Palliative Care Day: ‘Hidden Lives / Hidden Patients.’
This year, World Hospice and Palliative Care Day will take place on 10 October. The theme will focus on the patients living in unique conditions who often struggle with access to palliative care including children, LGBT individuals, people living with HIV, prisoners, soldiers and those living in rural settings.
In palliative care, no one should be invisible.There are ‘hidden patients’ with ‘hidden lives’ for whom the need for palliative care is not recognised. Children are often neglected and ‘hidden’, with 21 million children worldwide needing a palliative care approach.
The vision of the WHPCA and the ICPCN is a world with universal access to hospice and palliative care for adults and children.
Palliative care should be available for all with life-limiting illnesses, regardless of age, race, disease, gender, sexuality, or where they live.
By creating opportunities to speak out about the issues, the WHPCA and the ICPCN hope to increase the availability of hospice and palliative care for adults and children throughout the world.
The aim of World Hospice and Palliative Care Day is to raise awareness and understanding of the needs – medical, social, practical and spiritual – of people living with a life limiting illness and their families…read more