Wednesday, October 8, 2008

More than 13,000 living wills registered in Andalucia


    Four years after the introduction of a register of living wills in Andalucia 13,435 people have become part of the scheme. The 'Registro de Voluntades Vitales Anticipadas' is a service, run by the regional health ministry since June 2004, which allows individuals to specify how they wish to be treated if they are hospitalised and unable to express their wishes.

    In the living will, which becomes part of a database available to doctors, you can specify those criteria which signify quality of life for you, the situations in which you want the document to be taken into account, the level of treatment to which you want to be submitted in certain circumstances and in what circumstances you want your treatment to be discontinued and your desire to donate your organs for transplant or your body for research in the case of your death. You can also designate somebody to be the one to take decisions on your behalf. The necessary documentation is available online at https://ws003.juntadeandalucia.es/pls/intersas/servicios.formularios_voluntad_vital or at health centres or hospitals, it is in Spanish and as there are parts where you can detail specific conditions your Spanish needs to be good or you will need a reliable translator to help you with it. Once the form has been completed you need to attend personally at the registry, which is to be found in the Delegacion Provincial de Salud of each province, to sign before the registrar.

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