18 October 2024
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The 6th Maruzza International Congress, which brings together more than 400 pediatric palliative care providers, is currently taking place.
In 2012 with the first Maruzza Congress, the Foundation initiated a dialogue on global access to children’s palliative care, and today, in its sixth edition, this event remains the most significant international event aimed at fostering knowledge sharing and promoting the development of pediatric palliative care provision worldwide, with the goal of ensuring that all babies, children and young adults with palliative care needs can access the appropriate specialized service.
Since its creation in 1999 by the Lefebvre D’Ovidio family, the Maruzza Foundation has strived to raise awareness of the importance of pediatric palliative care and to guarantee the best quality of life possible for children with serious illnesses and their families.
Over these 25 years, through collaboration with national and international experts, the Foundation has reached important milestones; national policy, raised awareness and the enhancement of the quality of life of thousands of families. Some of the most significant include the publication of IMPaCCT in 2006, which indicated the first European standards for the care of children with serious illness, and legislation (Law 38/2010), which integrated palliative care for children into national healthcare policy making Italy a model for pediatric palliative care provision.
In 2013, in recognition of its contribution to Public Healthcare, the Foundation was awarded the Gold Medal of Merit by the President of the Republic. The Foundation continued to broaden its activities by establishing, in 2015, the Maruzza Lyceum to provide specialized training opportunities for healthcare professionals. In 2020, with the publication of GO-PPaCS, the international standards of pediatric palliative care in the IMPaCCT document were revised. In the same year, the awareness initiative the ‘Giro D’Italia of Pediatric Palliative Care’ was launched
Thanks to the commitment of all those who believed in its mission, the Maruzza Foundation remains today a reference point in the field of pediatric palliative care.