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to professional colleagues, politicians and the general public. This day has become known as the STOP Pressure Ulcer Day and in 2012 will be held on 16 November. Two of the groups that have participated in STOP Pressure
Ulcer days in past years, the Spanish National Group for the Study and Advice on Pressure Ulcers and chronic wounds (GNEAUPP) and the Ibero-Latin-American Society on Wounds (SILAHUE), prompted the drafting of a public statement on the importance of pressure ulcer prevention within the Declaration of Rio. This declaration is reproduced in Table 1 and can also be downloaded at
http://www.silauhe.org/es/?file=kop1.php where posters publicising the 2012 STOP Pressure Ulcer Day can also be obtained. In order to deal with the problem of pressure ulcers, it is
necessary to: n Achieve a strong commitment to the development and implementation of determined policies aimed to prevent this important public health problem
n Ensure that people have an equitable and universal access to high quality technical and human resources to prevent and treat these lesions
n Guarantee the use of quality, scientific evidence-based criteria, not just economic ones, when preventive and therapy resources are selected
n Improve both basic and post-basic education for clinicians about caring for people with or at risk of suffering these lesions, using an interdisciplinary and integral approach
n Promote research, development and innovation for making progress in terms of effectively caring for people with these problems
n Promote the creation of wound-care specialised clinical settings, with a clear interdisciplinary approach, and the availability of expert consultants in every
community and healthcare setting
n Reinforce nursing leadership for caring for people with pressure ulcers, because nurses are the professionals with the most suitable education and the most adequate position in healthcare systems to do this.
The views expressed in the Declaration of Rio succinctly set
out the rights of people not to have to experience pressure ulcers along with the steps that each healthcare system should implement to help protect patients. As such, the Declaration of Rio deserves wide dissemination and to be incorporated within the goals and aspirations of organisations focused upon pressure ulcer prevention and treatment. The European Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel (EPUAP)
agreed early in 2012 that participation in the STOP Pressure Ulcer Days should become a key part of the actions of the organisation. Over the spring and early summer of 2012, the EPUAP trustees have been working to create publicity materials and to generate interest for local events across Europe on 16 November, 2012. The EPUAP will have new materials available at its annual conference in Cardiff (19-21 September, 2012) that will cover: n Information on pressure ulcers for patients, carers and families
n A fact sheet on pressure ulcers for healthcare managers, policymakers and politicians
n An online video alerting people to pressure ulcers and their prevention
n Campaign badges will also be available to help promote pressure ulcer prevention and help align each local initiative to the overall campaign.
The EPUAP is under no illusion that its first participation
States are responsible to guarantee people right to life and health
Pressure ulcers are a major health problem, which affects millions of people worldwide, deteriorates their health and quality of life, and, eventually, can lead to disability and death
Pressure ulcers produce high costs for healthcare systems and could lead to serious ethical consequences and legal issues for professionals
Scientific knowledge currently available has proved that these lesions could be almost completely avoided (at least 95%)
Pressure ulcers must be considered to be a major threat for patients' safety, both in healthcare systems and in the community.
Table 1. Declararion of Rio de Janeiro on pressure ulcers prevention as a universal human right (October 2011)
12 Wounds International Vol 3 | Issue 3 | ©Wounds International 2012
in the STOP Pressure Ulcer Day will generate local efforts on pressure ulcers in each country and region across Europe. It will take some years for the impact of the Day to build and spread across Europe and wider across the world. However, the EPUAP is willing to make the
commitment to support the STOP Pressure Ulcer Day each year and we hope that many clinicians will take the opportunity to talk about pressure ulcers with their colleagues, their managers and local politicians and members of the public on 16 November, 2012. All efforts focused upon the STOP Pressure Ulcer Day will be reported on the EPUAP website (
www.epuap.org) and news can be shared by sending details of local events to
epuap@aol.com. Let us take the opportunity on 16 November, 2012 to
focus upon pressure ulcer prevention and treatment and to begin bringing the problem of pressure ulcers from being a relatively unknown health problem to one that rightly deserves the attention of colleagues, the public and politicians, given the large number of people affected each year and the huge costs incurred by all European healthcare systems. Michael Clark is EPUAP President; Christina Lindholm is EPUAP STOP Pressure Ulcer Day co-ordinator.
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