Palliative Care Essentials

Under the framework of the “essential” concept, in 2006 the IAHPC decided to work in different projects aimed to identify the “essential” components for palliative care. The concept assumes that the identification of "essential" components may be critical in order to improve palliative care worldwide.


Essential Medicines for Palliative Care for World Health Organization EML (2013)

Following the IAHPC List of Medicines for Palliative Care in 2006 and a request from WHO, IAHPC submitted an application of medications for palliative care to be reviewed by the WHO Expert Committee on the Selection and Use of Essential Medicines, which met in Geneva in April 2013. In addition, IAHPC also submitted along with others, a request to move the palliative care list out of the oncology section. The WHO Expert Committee approved the application of Medicines and created a new separate category for Medicines for Pain and Palliative Care in the WHO Essential Model List. The links below provide access to the application and the evidence presented to WHO and the current WHO Model Lists of Essential Medicines.

IAHPC List of Essential Practices in Palliative Care (2012)

The list of essential practices in palliative care for health workers working in primary care includes those practices aimed at meeting the most prevalent physical, social, psychological and spiritual needs of palliative care patients and their families.

The resulting list will serve as a guide to advance palliative care in primary care where the largest number of patients in the world access care.

The IAHPC will focus on the impact of the implementation of the list in the quality of the lives of patients and their families, and the identification of the competencies needed to implement the resulting practices.

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IAHPC Opioid Essential Prescription Package (2011)

In 2010 the IAHPC formed a working committee to determine the components of an opioid essential prescription package to be used when initiating a prescription for the control of moderate to severe chronic pain.After a study among IAHPC members from different countries, the committe developed the Opioid Essential Prescription Package (OEPP) the appropriate dosage and route of administration for each medication.

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IAHPC Essential Medicines for Palliative Care (2006)

In collaboration with other organizations, the International Association for Hospice and Palliative Care (IAHPC) developed a list of essential medicines for palliative care in response to a request from the Cancer Control Program of the World Health Organization (WHO).

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