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On the first day of the conference the participants developed a theoretical framework and on the second day – held discussions in working groups to jointly identify issues regarding re-integration of chronic patients in full-fledged economic and social life, as well as prepared specific action-oriented recommendations and a resolution.
“This conference should conjoin knowledge of patients and professionals in order to improve the life of chronic patients and their relatives. It should be understood that we are speaking in percentages, but behind each percent there is a person and their relatives,” said Chair of the Dzīvības koks Society Board Gunita Berķe.
She also pointed out that we talk about prevention, diagnosis and treatment, but hardly ever about what happens with a person after the treatment ends.
“It is important for people who suffer from chronic diseases, regardless the type of disease and the person’s age, to be integrated in full-fledged economic and social life. To ensure this, the “health in all policies” principle should be followed. It means taking politically far-sighted decisions at all levels in order to prevent causes that have a negative impact on health and active lifestyle. It also means that every person should have the opportunity to be fully integrated in society,” expressed Latvian Health Minister Guntis Belēvičs.
He also pointed out that in the near future greater focus will be devoted to rehabilitation and palliative care.
On the second day of the conference, the working groups discussed important issues in the context of chronic diseases such as: economic aspects of chronic diseases; health policy and economic activity; patients’ rights and working environment, improvement of working skills; set of rehabilitation services and the decreasing of disability; specific nature of rare diseases; oncology as a chronic disease in the minds of the public. Currently, the recommendations prepared by the working groups are being summarised in order to supplement the resolution of the conference and forward it to all the conference participants for further consideration. In April, the final version of the resolution will be prepared for submission to the European Commission, the European Parliament, the Council of the European Union and national governments.
Second day of the conference. Photo: Latvian Cancer Patient Support Society Dzīvības koks
Chronic diseases, including once considered non-treatable diseases such as cancer or pulmonary hypertension, are an increasing burden to health and social security systems in Europe, including Latvia. Chronic disease is a lasting condition of a patient and in most cases it can be successfully controlled thanks to the improvements of health care. The survival of chronic patients increases, thus increases also the total number of chronic patients. For these reasons, it is very important to ensure that chronic patients are able to integrate and to participate in economic and social life, thus becoming a support, not a burden to the economy.
Latvian Cancer Patient Support Society Dzīvības koks was founded in 2004 and it is the leading non-governmental organisation in Latvia, bringing together cancer patients and their relatives. The society's purpose is to protect the interests of patients at national and international level so that Latvian patients are able to receive the highest quality health care. “Dzīvības koks" is the member of the Europa Donna and European Cancer Patient Coalition. Since 2013 Dzīvības koks has been organising activities in other regions of Latvia. In 2014, the association received the Annual Health Award from the Latvian Medical Association as the most supportive patient organisation.
The Pulmonary Hypertension Association (PHB) was founded on 5 August 2011. In the same year, the association was accepted as a member of the European PH patients' Association "PHA Europe." The PHB combines Latvian pulmonary hypertension patients, their relatives, professionals and other supporters. The goal of the society is to promote PH patient quality of life and to educate the public about the disease, and raise awareness about the diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation.
The Patients’ Ombud Office is an independent organisation, which since 2008 advises, helps with finding solutions, makes recommendations to health care organisations and assists with other questions regarding the quality of treatment and patients' rights issues for both patients and medical professionals and experts in the field, thus being the first such organisation in Latvia. The Patients’ Ombud Office’s mission is to improve the quality of health care system by encouraging positive communication and flow of information between those involved in health care. Furthermore, the organisation’s goal is to process the feedback about the treatment from clients and medical professionals, so that the system developers and maintainers can improve their work.
