13th EAPC Congress in Prague (30th May to 2nd June 2013). News from the Scientific Committee.

The Scientific Committee of the 13th EAPC Congress (30th May to 2nd June 2013) has met this weekend in Prague to discuss emerging hot topics and areas of interest that should be considered in the congress programme.

The congress will focus on palliative care as a human right. Plenary topics will include human rights issues, palliative care for patients with dementia, symptom control in the final phase of life and core elements in palliative care such as teamwork.

The congress venue will be Prague, and the golden city will provide a beautiful setting with plenty of opportunities for recreation and fun. We hope that participants will find the program and the city invigorating and that the congress can contribute significantly ot the development of palliative care in Europe and beyond. Prague is situated centrally in Europe, with good airline connections to many European cities. More specifically, Prague can be reached easily from Eastern European and Central Asian countries, and one of the core aims of the congress will be to foster participation from these countries (for example with reduced registration fees and with a restricted number of travel grants).

EAPC congresses provide a platform for more than 2000 participating health care professionals for discussion of new emerging concepts and interventions as well as communication on state-of-the-art palliative care with colleagues from all over the word.

Lukas Radbruch
(Chair of the Scientific Committee of the 13th EAPC Congress 2013)