THE CORNER-STONE POZNAN DECLARATION 1998

The Poznan Declaration was initially made during the 9th Palliative Medicine Advanced Course (May 1998) by the participants from Belarus, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Slovakia. It emerged as a result of workshops on present status and future development of palliative care in the countries of participants, chaired by Ian Stjernsward and Jacek Luczak.

The declaration included regional analysis of palliative care issues, stated goals to achieve in the palliative care field (national policy, education, drug availability, multidisciplinary teams, public awareness) and gave some recommendations of how to do that.

During the 10th Palliative Medicine Advanced Course which took place in May 1999 meetings were held to discuss present achievements and obstacles to the improvement of cancer pain control and palliative care. Apart from the representatives from the countries listed above the participants from Estonia, Greece and Ukraine took part in the course. Questionnaires covering the incidence of cancer and dying of cancer, drug availability, drug consumption and national policies, were prepared and sent to professionals working in palliative care teams in Eastern Europe. The Founding Committee for the registration of the Eastern and Central Europe Palliative Care Taskforce (ECEPT) was established. The principal purpose of this organisation is to implement the objectives stated in the Poznan Declaration.