What is modern hospice care and palliative medicine?
Hospice/palliative care, as the World Health Organization has recognized, is the active, total care of patients whose disease no longer responds to curative treatment, and for whom the goal must be the best quality of life for them and their families. St. Christopher’s hospice London, the first modern hospice institution was founded by Dame Cicely Saunders in 1967. The fundamental principles are: stressing the value and dignity of any single human being, especially during his last period of life and continuing morphine analgesia given at regular intervals for full pain control. Since then Hospice has become a worldwide philosophy adapting to the needs of different cultures and settings–hospital, hospice and community–and is established in six continents. The number of books, journals, academies, instituts, international and national congresses and meetings is increasing steadily. At Croatia, during May 1994 in Zagreb, the First Croatian Hospice/Palliative Care Symposium was held. Dur
