BTA. Between 5,000 and 8,000 Bulgarian Children Need Daily Palliative Care, Services Are Inadequate

YEREVAN, JUNE 19, ARMENPRESS. An estimated 5,000 to 8,000 children in Bulgaria need palliative day care, and only 10% of them are terminally ill, Dr Boyana Petkova said during a roundtable on "Palliative Care for Children in Bulgaria: Challenges and Perspectives" in Sofia on Monday.

That was the conclusive event of a project titled "Brave Children with Lion Hearts: Initiative for Citizen Participation in the Formulation of Public Health Policies for Palliative Care for Children". The project is funded by Operational Programme "Good Governance", which is co-financed by the EU through the European Social Fund, and is implemented by the Ida - Children's Palliative Care Foundation and the LARGO Association of Kyustendil.

"There are no registers, no functional legislative and administrative framework for providing palliative care to children, and no adequate training of specialists," said Dr Petkova, who is a pediatrician and co-chairs the Ida Foundation.

In her words, substitute care is practically inaccessible to parents in Bulgaria. On the other hand, a child in Germany can be admitted to a children's hospice for 10-14 days, where specialists take care of them so that parents can be relieved. There are different types of therapies in a children's hospice, including the assistance of animals, Dr Petkova added.

"Spiritual support is also crucial, and our impression is that many people in Bulgaria would benefit if they had access to it," she added.

"Palliative care should target both patients and their families, friends and classmates," Dr Petkova added. This care is not just medical care. Palliative care aims to relieve psychological and physical suffering, as well as to improve the quality of life".

"Palliative care is not a particular problem, policies are needed to address," said project leader Venelin Stoychev. He argued that the big problem is the persistent absence of options in Bulgaria to raise children and help them and their parents. "It is not uncommon for families with a child with a serious illness to break up or for at least one of the parents to be unable to continue working to help their child," he added.

"One in every four adults has relatives and friends who have a child under 18 who has passed away," Stoychev said, citing a survey conducted as part of the project. "One in 20 people has a child who has been diagnosed with a serious illness. About 1% of people have lost a child aged under 18.

Addressing the forum, Labour and Social Policy Minister Ivanka Shalapatova described improving the quality of life of the sick in the last stages of their lives as a "major challenge". She hopes that the forum will provide solutions to some of the challenges posed by palliative care for children.

Shalapatova further vowed that her Ministry, together with the Health Ministry, will adopt an integrated approach to improve the availability of palliative care in Bulgaria.