WRITTEN QUESTION No. 1192/96 by Leen van der WAAL to the Commission. Palliative care
Date: 1996-05-10
Institutions: European Parliament, VAN DER WAAL
Subjects: action programme, alternative medicine, cancer, dissemination of information, elderly person, illness, public health, quality of life, therapeutics













EUR-Lex - 91996E1192 - EN






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91996E1192

WRITTEN QUESTION No. 1192/96 by Leen van der WAAL to the Commission. Palliative care  


Official Journal C 297 , 08/10/1996 P. 0105 





WRITTEN QUESTION P-1192/96 by Leen van der Waal (EDN) to the Commission (10 May 1996)Subject: Palliative careBecause of the increasing life expectancy of the population of the Union and the growth in the number of older people there is a considerable need for palliative care and hospices for seriously ill patients in a terminal condition. In some Member States - for example, Britain, France and Belgium - a knowledge and experience of this form of care are actively encouraged, while other Member States are still in the initial stages.Given the importance of this matter, is the Commission prepared to include in the preliminary draft budget for 1997 appropriations for promoting an exchange of knowledge in this area between the Member States and to support specific European research projects?Answer given by Mr Flynn on behalf of the Commission (13 June 1996)On 29 March 1996 the Parliament and Council adopted Decision No 646/96/EEC ((OJ L 95, 16.4.1996 )) on an action plan to combat cancer within the framework for action in the field of public health (1996 to 2000). This Community action plan, which is being implemented by the Commission in close cooperation with the Member States, includes actions designed, inter alia, to promote the quality of patients' life by improving the general health situation.The action plan also includes promotion of initiatives and support for European studies and dissemination of their conclusions, particularly in the context of European-level meetings and exchanges of experience, in order to gain a better understanding of the quality control methods for measures aimed at correct early detection of the disease and prevention of its development, risks of relapse and associated syndromes and improving the effectiveness of those methods, taking into account the psychological and social aspects, in particular the quality of life of patients, including palliative methods. This action plan has been allocated 64 million ecus for the period under consideration (1996-2000). The annual appropriations to support the priority actions will be authorised by the budgetary authority subject to the availability of resources.As regards research, the research programme on biomedicine and health for 1994-1998 (Biomed 2), in the domain 'Cancer research', already provides for a research topic concerning the evaluation of factors contributing to an optimum quality of life, including rehabilitation and terminal care.A call for proposals, which will be published in September 1996, will enable researchers to submit proposals notably concerning the quality of life and terminal care, the role of the palliative centres and centres for the treatment of pain associated with incurable diseases, as well as various other aspects of care in the final phase of life. This will allow the Commission to fund projects in this area, selected on the basis of their scientific excellence, in the framework of the research budget for the biomedicine and health programme in 1997 and 1998.