A Global Victory for Palliative Care
On May 23, the World Health Organization passed its first ever stand-alone palliative care resolution. It calls on all member states to integrate palliative care and pain relief into their national health systems.
2 Jun 2014What does this resolution do?
World Health Organization resolutions serve to encourage member states to make policy changes and to provide guidance on global health policy that should be implemented at the country level. This historic resolution calls on all member states to integrate palliative care and pain relief into their national health systems.
This resolution is important because it requires the WHO to develop a global implementation plan to:
- work with national governments to integrate palliative care into national health policies;
- educate and train health care professionals;
- remove legislative barriers restricting access to opioid medications for pain relief;
- ensure essential palliative care medicines are available;
- provide palliative care across all levels of care including inpatient facilities and home care.
