Volume 24, Number 7: July 2023
Palliative Care, Even When Very Early or Very Late, 'Is Never Irrelevant'
We asked a few questions of longtime member Alejandra Palma, a palliative care physician working in Santiago, Chile, who joined IAHPC in 2008.
What drew you to palliative care?
"I think it was the answer to a semi-conscious search for a place from which to make visible those excluded from the system. At the same time, I wanted to learn how to offer them something important, when it seemed as though that something did not exist. It was about seeing the work of medical professionals oriented toward people rather than diseases, especially those people who were incurable, the sickest: those who were suffering at the edge of what traditional medicine could offer."
Describe something you learned on the job that could help others in their palliative care work.
"It is important to believe in the value of palliative care, in its simplicity and its complexity. To be clear that seeking the greatest possible benefit for very sick people and their families is always important and worthwhile, even if it is not seen in the same way by colleagues, and academic or administrative authorities. It is never irrelevant, not even in the face of a recent diagnosis, or in the last few seconds before death."
What advice do you have for someone considering the field of palliative care?
"It is an exciting and challenging area of health care work that will increasingly become more relevant in health care systems around the world, which is why it is very important to contribute to its development."
What palliative care advance is needed most in your practice (or your institution, region, or country)?
"Professional education, at all levels."
Please describe a pivotal point—a life-changing moment or event—during your practice of palliative care.
"Having met highly competent people who decided to dedicate their professional lives to this discipline, and having seen how their work had a clearly positive impact on patients and families."
Why did you join IAHPC the first time?
"When I started working in palliative care, the academic chief at the time, Flavio Nervi, learned about IAHPC and contacted Liliana de Lima and Eduardo Bruera. They welcomed our interest in developing palliative care and supported us in developing our clinical-university program. Since then, I have felt close to IAHPC."
What has driven you to renew your membership over the years?
"I believe that it is an institution led by people who genuinely believe in palliative care's ability to reduce the suffering of people who are very ill. Its commitment to global access to palliative care is not constrained or swayed by political or economic interests."
Delicious! Delicioso! Délicieux!
Editor's note
We have been inviting readers to participate monthly since September 2022, but received just one submission since then (the others have all been generated by IAHPC officers and staff). We have decided, therefore, to retire the feature, in recognition that our members value the newsletter primarily for its focus on advocacy, communication, education, and research.
List of Members
A list of individuals who joined, or renewed their membership with, IAHPC during the past month.
Membership renewals
| Name | Country |
|---|---|
| Arabelle Coleen Ofina | Philippines |
| Archana Vajjala | India |
| Carla Zapata del Mar | Peru |
| Carlota Moraes | Brazil |
| Flinders University, Palliative and End of Life Care, Postgraduate Courses | Australia |
| Duncan Kwaitana | Malawi |
| Ester Kibuuka | South Africa |
| Gezahegn Bekele Dadi | Ethiopia |
| Graciela Jacob | Argentina |
| Hammoda ABU-ODAH | West Bank and Gaza |
| Helen-Anne Manion | Australia |
| Irena Laska | Albania |
| Juan Carlos Degiovanni | Colombia |
| Kabindra Bhagabati | India |
| Kim Adzich | Canada |
| Global Partners in Care | United States |
| Lorea Chilton | Canada |
| Luisa Fernanda Arenas Ochoa | Colombia |
| Manisha Singh | India |
| Marta Ximena Leon | Colombia |
| Mary Baltasary Haule | Tanzania |
| Mary White | United States |
| Natalia Carafizi | Moldova |
| Pati Dzotsenidze | Georgia |
| Patrick Coyne | United States |
| Priti Sanghavi | India |
| Radhika R Pai | India |
| Rana Yamout | Lebanon |
| Roslyn Alfred-Demas | Trinidad and Tobago |
| Salamat Isiaka-lawal | Nigeria |
| Socorro Cabello | Mexico |
| Stella Kathambi Mburugu | Kenya |
| Stella Rithara Mwari | Kenya |
| Theodora Ndunguru | Tanzania |
| Van Anh Pham | Vietnam |
| Wendy Cheung | Canada |
New members
| Name | Country |
|---|---|
| Gabe Edwards | Australia |
| Jason Mills | Australia |
| Patricia Bozzetto Ambrosi | Brazil |
| Zhimeng Jia | Canada |
| Ajay Kumar Shukla | India |
| Subashini Perumal | India |
| Haryati Chaerudin | Indonesia |
| Ricky Dosan | Indonesia |
| Maya Abdul Rahman | Lebanon |
| Shristi Tiwari | Nepal |
| Abdulkarim Agga | Philippines |
| Dennis Dignadice | Philippines |
| Joanna Victolero | Philippines |
| Rachel Ann Catague | Philippines |
| Veronica Kileo | Tanzania |
| Elizabeth Persad | Trinidad and Tobago |
| Bernadette Basemera | Uganda |
| Lisa Davies | United Kingdom |
| Mary Patricia Horetz | United Kingdom |
| Rachel Quibell | United Kingdom |
| Ava Wexler | United States |
| Janet Abrahm | United States |
| Dinh Cong Le | Vietnam |
See the full list of IAHPC members