Progress Update: Development of Palliative Care From 2017 to 2020 in Five Countries in Eurasia.

Context: In the early 2000s, palliative care was largely unknown in the Eurasian region. For a period of twenty years starting around 2002, Open Society Foundations (OSF) supported palliative care pioneers in the region to establish palliative care services, train health providers, and advocate for the integration into health services.

Objectives: To report on the development of palliative care in Armenia, Georgia, Moldova, Tajikistan and Ukraine during the period 2017-2021 and explore the impact of OSF's sustained funding for palliative care in these countries.

Palliative care and human rights in patient care: an Armenia case study.

This paper examines palliative care within the human rights in patient care framework, which clarifies state obligations and addresses the rights of both patients and providers. In the context of palliative care, these rights extend beyond the right to health and include patient rights to freedom from torture, cruel and inhuman treatment, non-discrimination and equality, bodily integrity, privacy and confidentiality, information, and right to a remedy. They also encompass provider rights to decent working conditions, freedom of association, and due process.

Development of Palliative Care in Armenia.

In the last seven years, considerable progress has been made in palliative care (PC) in Armenia, but many problems remain unresolved. Policies developed include completion of a national needs assessment, a recognized working group on PC formed, national standards approved, a concept paper on PC approved, resolutions on PC as a specialized service approved, PC became a subspecialty in medicine, PC qualifications developed, and a social assistance package approved. In addition, the Government of Armenia lately approved the National Strategy on Palliative Care for Adults and 2017-2019 Action Plan.