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Today, the last event of the "Protect Life" project from the Khmelnytskyi Charitable Foundation "Hesed Besht" and with the support of the International Renaissance Foundation took place in the regional center of the Khmelnytskyi region. The dignified end of the territorial information marathon on the topic of palliative care, which included Slavuta, Shepetivka, Starokostyantyniv, Kamianets-Podilskyi and, with the rest, Khmelnytskyi, became a landmark and brought unexpectedly good news.
The Head of the Health Department of the Khmenytsia Regional State Administration, Borys Tkach, representatives of public organizations for whom the issue of palliative care is close and relevant, as well as members of the public and activists of the All-Ukrainian volunteer network "Community" were invited to participate in the round table.
Project manager Lyudmila Shvartsman spoke about the tasks of the “Protect Life” project and its achievements. She noted the importance of the mission of the International Renaissance Foundation, which supported our initiative and promotes the development of palliative and hospice care in Ukraine and the world. Then the floor was given to the distinguished guest, under whose care the development of medicine in the region is located - Boris Tkachev. He spoke about the goals and objectives of today's meeting and the results already available. However, as it turned out, Boris Vasilyevich saved the main news for later.
Deputy Head of the regional branch of the Ukrainian League of Palliative and Hospice Care in Khmelnytskyi Region, Olga Voronyuk, clearly spoke about the importance of palliative care and the achievements of the organization. The founder of the League is the former Minister of Health of Ukraine, Vasyl Knyazevych, who has made a lot of efforts to develop this industry throughout the country and in the Khmelnytskyi Region in particular.
Representatives of the public actively participated in the discussion of the topic at the round table. The head of the public organization for helping women who have suffered from breast cancer "Donna" Zoya Sidoryshyna spoke about the importance of providing hospice care in our region and the low level of palliative culture. According to her, in fact, hospice was needed by our society ten years ago, but this issue has not yet been fully resolved. She also noted that the Hesed Besht Charity Foundation provides social worker services to its clients, which partially relieves social tension, but at the city level this is not enough for all those in need.
Activist Valentyna Krytska, who was previously an assistant to MP Olga Bogomolets, raised the topic of the importance of participation in palliative care by representatives of the clergy - military chaplains. And the head of the Khmelnytskyi Regional Foundation "Mercy and Health" Volodymyr Kukhar updated the issue of the latest reform in the field of healthcare and its prospects. After the full implementation of the changes, palliative care should be fully provided by the state. Another guest, former thoracic surgeon Borys Shlain, suggested outlining the work of the round table to unite its participants and initiate specific steps to change the situation for the better.
The team of the "Protection of Life" project brought positive notes to a somewhat tense discussion. Lyudmila Novitska spoke about the relevance of legal assistance to palliative patients and the importance of simple friendly communication with people. Vyacheslav Nagnybida told the life-affirming story of Victoria Polisyuk, who has been on artificial ventilation for 16 years, but with the help of family, friends and volunteers is engaged in creativity and charity. The question of volunteering naturally arose, which was supplemented by a message about the expansion of the future activities of the "Community" center in the direction of palliative care.
The culmination of the meeting was the statement of the Head of the Department of Health of the Khmenytsia Regional State Administration, Borys Tkach. He reported that concrete work has begun in our city on the creation of a hospice. The initiative belongs to the mayor, Oleksandr Semchyshyn, the premises that meet the requirements of the future hospice and are located on B. Oliynyk Street in the Grechany microdistrict are already known. Work has now begun on the creation of design and estimate documentation, which will soon develop into the full-fledged creation of the long-awaited institution. This pleasant news was received with particular enthusiasm by the participants of the round table.
So, the “Protection of Life” project has fulfilled its goals and objectives. The planned events have ended, but during the round table in Shepetivka, thanks to the contribution of Khrystyna Yanushevska, two more unscheduled presentations of the project were scheduled in Polonnoye and Izyaslav. A print run of information booklets, which the Hesed Besht Foundation prepared specifically for broad public information, is ready for printing.
I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all caring organizations and individuals who participated in the project activities and are concerned about palliative care issues. And, of course, special thanks to the International Renaissance Foundation for its support and pursuit of its high humanitarian mission!
