2019; Volume 20, No 8, August
Announcements, Resources & Events
Each month, we publish a selection of items that may be of interest to our global readership. Contributions are welcomed; we reserve the right to edit content.
- Content should describe opportunities to advance palliative care and improve knowledge, skills, and networking, e.g., education and training, travel grants, access to online resources, etc.
- 150 words maximum.
- Copy deadline: 20th of each month.
- Please submit your copy to the editor together with any JPEG images. We reserve the right to edit content.
Please also consider promoting your education and training events in the IAHPC Global Directory of Education in Palliative Care. It’s quick and easy — just submit your content online.
World Hospice and Palliative Care Day Theme Announced
On World Hospice and Palliative Care Day in 2018, a ‘Chain of Love for Patients in Pain’ was organized by the Alpha Vellangallur Link Centre. Students joined high school volunteers to make the chain in Karupadanna, Kerala, India.
The aims of
World Hospice and Palliative Care Day
- To share a vision to increase the availability of hospice and palliative care throughout the world by creating opportunities to speak out about the issues.
- To raise awareness and understanding of the needs – medical, social, practical, spiritual – of people living with a life limiting illness and their families.
- To raise funds to support and develop hospice and palliative care services around the world.
‘My Care, My Right’ is the theme of the 2019 World Hospice and Palliative Care Day, taking place on Saturday, 12 October. The day is a rallying point for people around the world to publicly press policy makers to make palliative care policies and services a priority.
Organized by the Worldwide Hospice Palliative Care Alliance (WHPCA), the day has traditionally been marked by dozens of diverse events, such as conferences, open houses, informal gatherings, marches, human chains, performances, etc.; this year includes a choral performance by the Voice for Hospice Choir at Winchester Cathedral. Add your event to the WHPCA website here; keep an eye on the site closer to the day for the full range of activities.
‘A key action for the campaign will be to call on governments to listen to people who need or access palliative care and support the inclusion of the essential package of palliative care in all national Universal Health Coverage (UHC) schemes,’ according to the WHPCA.
How to get involved
- Campaign updates and materials are provided through the WHPCA’s newsletter.
- Follow @worldhospiceday on Twitter and hashtags #mycaremyright and #whpcd19
- Check the event’s webpage for updates, materials, and to register your event.
- To translate materials into your local language, contact WHPCA’s Shelley Enarson.
Great idea!
An Effective Education Campaign in Honduras
Fundación Hondureña para el Niño con Cáncer (Honduran Foundation for Children with Cancer) is an apolitical organization, powered by volunteers, that brought pediatric cancer care to Honduras. While providing care free of charge for patients from birth to 18 years old, the group noticed a problem: most of the children were coming to them with very late-stage cancer.
So it launched a public awareness campaign.
The campaign, approved by the Secretary of Education, involved going to public and private schools distributing an information sheet: 12 Symptoms of Pediatric Cancer. ‘We give materials to the kids, but our priority was the teachers, because they are with the kids seven hours a day,’ notes Nubia Zuniga, president and director of the Foundation. Now, five years later, the situation has reversed; ‘60% of the children we see are in the early stages of disease.’
‘It helps us to spend less money on medicines, there is less pain for the kids, and their treatment is a bit shorter,’ says Nubia. ‘It’s something we’re very proud of.’
This year, the program is spreading from the initial seven departments, or states, to seven more. The last four, which are the most distant and have the fewest residents, are scheduled for next year.
Read more about Fundación Hondureña para el Niño con Cáncer in this issue’s Progress Report.
A Palliative Care (and More) Tour of Northern India
Dr. David Olivieri, former director of Education and Training at St. Christopher’s Hospice in London, is collaborating once again with Jon Baines Tours to create a 14-day tour of Northern India from 15-29 March 2020.
The palliative care portion of the trip includes visits to:
- CanSupport, where you receive an overview of palliative care in India
- All India Institute of Medical Science, where you meet with clinicians and social workers
- Bhagwan Mahaveer Cancer Hospital and Research Centre, where you will meet Dr. Anjum Goad
- Chakrapati Ayurvedic Centre, to learn traditional approaches to pain relief
- Benares Hindu University’s pain and palliative care unit, to learn about traditional cultural beliefs of death and dying
- Saroj Gupta Cancer Centre & Research Institute in Thakurpukur
The tour intersperses these sessions with cultural highlights — such as sightseeing in old Kolkata; roaming a textile bazaar; visiting a bird sanctuary, a spice market, and the Taj Mahal; taking a cruise of the Ganges and more.
The cost is $USD3,995, excluding international flights and transfers. To learn more, visit the Jon Baines Tours website.
Calendar of Events
The following events were added last month to the IAHPC Calendar of Events:
- Argentina: EPEC-Pediátrico Latinoamericano. Course, 15 September to 15 December 2019, Buenos Aires.
- Canada: Palliative Care: Medical Intensive Course, 18-22 November 2019, Victoria, B.C.
- Croatia: 20th International Conference on Integrated Care, 27-29 April 2020, Šibenik.
- Italy: Advanced Pain & Palliative Care Workshop EPEC-Pediatrics, 20-23 November 2019, Rome; 11th World Research Congress of the EAPC, 14-16 May 2020, Palermo
- Saudi Arabia: Pan-Arab Palliative Care Conference, Palliative Care in Arab World: The Way Forward, 13-14 October 2019, Riyadh.
- Uganda: The 2nd Uganda Conference on Cancer and Palliative Care, 5-6 September 2019, Kampala.
- UK: Introduction to End of Life Care for Registered Nurses and Allied Health Professionals course, 24-26 September 2019, Abbey Wood, London; Future Directions of Hospice Care: IPU or ITU? Conference, 14 October 2019, London;
Find the workshop, seminar, congress, or conference that speaks to you in the IAHPC Calendar of Events, updated monthly, that lists activities of special interest to those who work in palliative care. Or submit an event for consideration; it’s free!
