About us

Hungarian Hospice-Palliative Association

Board of Directors

President:	Judit Schaffer, e-mail: gondos2000#KUKAC#externet.hu
Vice-president:	Dr. Csaba Simkó, e-mail: miskeha#KUKAC#freemail.hu
Members:	Dr. Ágnes Csikós, e-mail: agnes.csikos#KUKAC#aok.pte.hu Dr. Ágnes Ruzsa, e-mail: ruzsaagi#KUKAC#hotmail.com Dr. Katalin Hegedûs, e-mail: hegkati#KUKAC#net.sote.hu Dr. Katalin Muszbek, e-mail: info#KUKAC#hospicehaz.hu Miklós Lukács, e-mail: lukacsmik#KUKAC#gmail.com
Secretary:	Katalin Munk, e-mail: iroda#KUKAC#hospice.hu

Background statement, activity

The Hungarian Hospice Palliative Association (HHPA) as national association was established by 19 hospices in 1995. In 2008 the HHPA has 55 member associations. Due to the activity of the HHPA, hospice care is financed by the National Health Insurance Fund, hospice directions are included into the National Cancer Control Program (2005) and the Hungarian Hospice-Palliative Association became a member of the National Health Council (2006).
The Hungarian Hospice-Palliative Association has undertaken a significant role in coordinating and organizing the Hungarian hospice movement since 1995: especially in establishing its legal background, in the formation of the national education system, in publishing textbooks and standards and in keeping in touch with decision-makers.

The main activities of the Hungarian Hospice-Palliative Association:

• We monitor and coordinate the activity of the national hospice organizations. Each year we summarize and publish the results of statistical data and send them to member organizations and policy makers, respectively present them in national and international conferences. Our Association regularly informs national hospice organizations about trainings, events, applications, laws etc. on our website www.hospice.hu
• We elaborated the legal documents of hospice-palliative care in Hungary as the Hospice and patient's right chapters of the Health Care Act (1997); National Guidelines (2000 and 2002) and Minimum Standards (2004). In 2003 we initiated a Parliamentary examination with human rights and patients' rights organizations to include the hospice care into the health care system.
• Since 1995 the Association has organized accredited basic and further trainings in palliative care for health care professionals. By 2008, more than 3800 people participated in our training sessions.
• We published a series entitled 'Hospice Patient Care' and 23 other teaching materials were published with the participation of the Association. We translated a lot of documents into Hungarian, among others the Recommendation Rec (2003) 24 of the Committee of Ministers to member states on the organization of palliative care (Council of Europe, 2003)
• We organize annual conferences on hospice and palliative care providing a forum for sharing practical experience and scientific knowledge.

The Association became a member of the European Association for Palliative Care in 1999. In 2003 Katalin Hegedûs became a member of Board of Directors of the EAPC the first specialist having being elected from the Eastern European countries. Thanks to our lobbying efforts the Hungarian Hospice-Palliative Association became the organizer of the 10th Congress of the EAPC in 2007.