This month marks several important events in the international agenda:
Palliative Care Resolution
On January 23, 2014 the World Health Organization Executive Board in Geneva passed a historic resolution urging member states to strengthen palliative care “as a component of integrated treatment within the continuum of care.” This edition of the newsletter includes an announcement from Dr Katherine Pettus, describing the impact of this resolution and a link to the WHO document. Many thanks to all the countries who sponsored the resolution. We are proud of having been part of the team helping and providing support and advice, along with several other international and regional organizations. Congratulations to all!
Members’ Recognition Winners
As many of you know, October is our Affiliates’ Recognition Month when we generate awareness and understanding of the vital function that our members play in the advancement of our mission and we recognize them for their support. As part of this recognition, we have given two prizes in the following categories:
Recognizing Loyalty: to maintain the loyalty of members by giving a prize to individual and institutions who keep their membership active. The winner of this category was Dr. Marija Inesa Poniskaitiene, a physician in Palliative Care Department of Kaunas Nursing Hospital in Lithuania. Her name was randomly selected from members who have been active for more than 3 straight years. Dr. Poniskaitiene has been an IAHPC loyal member for more than 10 years!!
Increasing Membership: to increase the number of members by giving a prize to individuals who bring the highest number of new or renewed members. Ms. Grace Kivumbi, from Uganda, won this prize for her help provided in recruiting new members during the African Palliative Care Association and the PC Association of Uganda Conferences.
Congratulations to Doctor Poniskaitiene and Ms. Kivumbi for their selection and many thanks again for their support. Their bios and photos are included in this Newsletter.
Traveling Scholarship
This past month we gave several grants from the Traveling Scholarship program to the individuals listed in this newsletter. However we wish to highlight that the following individuals were given scholarships to attend the VII Congress of the Latin American Association for Palliative Care (ALCP for its acronym in Spanish) in Medellin, Colombia:
Kimberly Arguello from San Jose, Costa Rica
Maria de los Angeles Minatel, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Maria Mercedes Bernada from Montevideo, Uruguay
Vilma Tripodoro from Buenos Aires, Argentina
Santiago Rodriguez Correa from Rio Grande, Brazil
Ismariel Espin from Caracas, Venezuela
Lorena Alvarenga from Buenos Aires, Argentina
The ALCP holds the Congress every two years – the Congress brings together palliative care workers and volunteers from all over Latin America and other regions of the world. We both have plans to be there and participate actively. Additional information about the congress including registration and the congress program is available here.
Help us to help others: IAHPC's annual fundraiser!
How your gift supports the IAHPC mission
Achieved: $24,941
Goal: $30,000
83%
Education
Your gift funds the operational costs of our online courses taught by globally recognized experts who volunteer their time and provide educational resources relevant to palliative care topics. It also supports scholarships that enable palliative care workers to attend educational events and congresses, and allows us to maintain Pallipedia, the free, live, online dictionary.
The goal of this pillar is to implement strategies, resources and tools that will improve the competencies of the global workforce for appropriate palliative care delivery. We have two programs under this pillar plus many other resources for our members.
Your gift enables us to build and strengthen the partnerships that accelerate global, regional, and national advocacy for palliative care. We advocate for its integration into primary health care under universal health coverage and effective access to essential palliative care medicines and packages for people of all ages. Your gift supports our work to prepare delegates and participate in technical consultation meetings of the relevant UN organizations.
The goal this pillar is the integration of palliative care into primary health care within the spectrum of universal coverage to improve access to adequate care for patients in need. We offer the following to our members:
Documents on Human Rights and Access to Medicines and Care
Research
Your gift enables us to continue doing research that provides guidance and recommendations for action, based on responses from the global palliative care community. Such research includes our recent evaluation of the impact of euthanasia and assisted dying practices on palliative care workers and the use of essential medicines for palliative care. It also supports the costs of publications focused on research relevant to palliative care.
The goal of this pillar is to design and implement projects that lead to the integration of palliative care into health policies, resolutions, and key documents. Our studies help us provide guidance and recommendations, and take action based on the responses from the global palliative care community.
Your membership enables you to participate in IAHPC projects such as the:
Your gift enables us to continue our in-depth reporting and book reviews in Pallinews, as well as media campaigns that raise awareness about the need to increase access to care and support for patients and families.
We are a small organization that allocates over 80% of our budget to mission driven programs and to the maintenance of our free website. We need operational funding to continue the work.
Give a gift, get a gift
IAHPC members: When you gift a 2-year membership to a colleague in a low- or middle-income country, we extend your membership by 6 months.
