During the month of August many readers were on vacation, including ourselves. If you were away, we hope you enjoyed the rest. We did!
Next month is IAHPC members’ recognition month. IAHPC benefits every day by the hard work of our members who are devoted to the advancement of hospice and palliative care worldwide. Members exemplify a continuing commitment to patient care, improving education and developing favorable policies consistent with our mission.
To celebrate our members’ month, IAHPC will be giving two prizes (a Traveling Scholarship or Traveling Fellowship of up to $2,000). Prizes will be given in two categories: a) Recognizing member loyalty and b) Increasing our membership. Keep an eye out for the announcement in the next few weeks.
Last month IAHPC participated in the 5th African Palliative Care Conference in Kampala, Uganda, in several ways – we had a very productive board meeting, a busy booth in the exhibit area where we met our grantees and many workers joined and renewed their membership in IAHPC. Congratulations to the African Palliative Care Association (APCA) and its co-sponsor, the World Hospice Palliative Care Alliance (WHPCA), for putting together a great conference – we had a great time!
Many thanks to all the participants at the APCA conference who joined or renewed their membership – their names are in the Members’ section in this newsletter. And congratulations again to the IAHPC Traveling Scholars to the Conference. Katherine Pettus writes more about the conference on the Policy and Advocacy page and we’ll be hearing from Traveling Scholars in a future issue.
Some of you may have seen the announcement about the re-launching of Pallipedia, the online Palliative Care free dictionary. Pallipedia resulted from a strategic plan carried early in 2008 by the IAHPC Board of Directors, who recommended developing and implementing a Palliative Care specialized online dictionary to improve palliative care knowledge and resources for the global community. This revised version of Pallipedia offers updated definitions of over 900 palliative/hospice and general health-related terms. This edition of the newsletter includes a copy of the announcement and a link to the Dictionary. We are very grateful to Dr. Roberto Wenk for his hard work and dedication that made this possible. Dr. Wenk will continue to be the editor of Pallipedia as his contribution to IAHPC.
Dr. Mwate Joseph Chaila
Medical Officer
Zambart
Lusaka, Zambia
Dr. Djoumessi Nguetse Romance
Palliative Care
Bafoussam Regional Hospital
Bafoussam, Cameroon
Dr. Rubayat Rahman
Palliative Medicine
Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University
Dhaka, Bangladesh
Dr. Mohammad Shahinur Kabir
Palliative Care
Hospice Bangladesh
Dhaka, Bangladesh
Congratulations to the grantees on their selection – we hope that their trips will help advance palliative care and have the impact they are aiming for. We look forward to their reports after their return.
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.
