[What is modern hospice care and palliative medicine?].

Hospice/palliative care, as the World Health Organization has recognized, is the active, total care of patients whose disease no longer responds to curative treatment, and for whom the goal must be the best quality of life for them and their families. St. Christopher's hospice London, the first modern hospice institution was founded by Dame Cicely Saunders in 1967. The fundamental principles are: stressing the value and dignity of any single human being, especially during his last period of life and continuing morphine analgesia given at regular intervals for full pain control. Since then Hospice has become a worldwide philosophy adapting to the needs of different cultures and settings--hospital, hospice and community--and is established in six continents. The number of books, journals, academies, instituts, international and national congresses and meetings is increasing steadily. At Croatia, during May 1994 in Zagreb, the First Croatian Hospice/Palliative Care Symposium was held. During the autumn of the same year the Croatian Hospice/Palliative Care Society was founded. The society has regular meetings and intends to organize the Second Croatian Hospice/Palliative Care Symposium with international contributions in September this year. Many articles and books are in print or prepared for print. The point is on the hospice workers education and organization of the first stationary hospice unit. The fundamental problem will be solved when our society will accept that hospice/palliative medicine is an imperative of actual moment and the part of croatian inclusion into european or worldwide trends. The acceptance of palliative medicine is the acceptance of new medicine directed to the whole man and his surroundings, instead of involving only single or two diseases.