Message from the Chair
and Executive Director
Kathy Foley, MD
Liliana De Lima, MHA
In response to a growing need for tools to address policy and advocacy issues, we have added a new page in the IAHPC website listing some which we hope you will find useful. To access these tools, go to www.hospicecare.com, click on Resources, then select Policy and Advocacy Tools. If you know of an advocacy or policy document not listed in this page, please let us know. We want to bring as many resources as possible to you so that you have the tools at hand to make things happen in your countries and communities.
We are glad to announce that this month we have funded the following palliative care workers through the IAHPC Traveling Scholarship Program:
• Dr. Gayatri Palat, from Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences in Kerala, India is now visiting the Palliative Care Department at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.
• Dr. Jorge Eisenchlas, from Argentina is now in the UK, participating in the Research Seminar at the International Observatory in End of Life Care at Lancaster University.
• Doctors Reena George and Jacob Alexander from the Christian Medical College in Vellore, India will be traveling to London to participate in the 7th International Course on Grief and Bereavement.
We are proud to be able to support these exceptional and committed individuals and hope that their new knowledge and acquired skills will help them improve patient care in their countries.
For the past few months we have been working on our Website, including the redesign of some pages to improve its navigability and functionality. Now ready is the IAHPC International Directory, which features tools such as Recent Listings and a Search engine to facilitate locating a hospice or palliative care unit in any country in the world. Some countries are still being updated, but please visit the directory and check the listings to see if your program is included. If it’s missing, use the submission form to add, correct or update the information. You can see the directory by going to www.hospicecare.com and clicking on International Directory on the top navigation bar. We are very grateful with Anne Laidlaw and her team at Alou Web Design for their hard work and dedication in making this possible.
Several of you are now receiving the donated Oxford Textbook of Palliative Medicine we sent some weeks ago through the IAHPC Clearing House Program. We are very touched by the many letters and thank you notes and we are glad you will be using the book extensively. Some of the testimonials are included in this newsletter and can also be seen in the Testimonials page in our website in http://www.hospicecare.com/clearinghouse_testimonials.htm Also, thanks to the latest donors to the IAHPC Clearing House Program: Dr. Susan Krauter from Houston; Ms Sandra Lee Schaefer, from Pittsburgh; Ms Deanne Emmons, from Berkeley; the Hospice and Palliative Nurses Association; and Ms. Pamela Bennett, from Purdue Pharma. Medical and nursing journals are extremely expensive and very limited in developing countries. Through the support of these generous individuals and our Clearing House Program, IAHPC is now able to distribute them around the world.
There are many ways in which we support programs around the world, but we also need your participation to be able to continue helping others. If you are not a member of IAHPC, please consider joining or donating to any of the IAHPC programs. Our ability to help is limited by the amount of funds we are able to raise throughout the year. We keep a small office and very low administrative expenses to maximize the amount of monies we are able to transfer to programs for patients and families in developing countries. Your participation is extremely important in making this possible. If you need information on how to donate or partnership with IAHPC in any of our initiatives, please contact us.
Until next month,
Kathy Foley, MD
Chair, Board of Directors |
Liliana De Lima, MHA
Executive Director |
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© 2005 IAHPC Press
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