At the ATLANTES Lecture on May 6 (L-R): Navarro Society of Palliative Care's Mirren MartÃnez, IAHPC's Katherine Pettus, and ATLANTES Director Carlos Centeno.
Katherine I. Pettus
IAHPC Delegation Prepares for World Health Assembly
May is a busy month as the IAHPC delegation prepares for the 78th World Health Assembly (WHA) in Geneva, which runs from May 19-27. Our five delegates—myself and Drs. Maya Jane Bates, Kayla Wolofsky, Sherin Paul, and Antonios Giannakis (representing PallCHASE)—have been meeting weekly to prepare individual and constituency statements, as well as advocacy notes and attendance rosters at the many side events.
IAHPC side events
IAHPC organized and is hosting two side events, both on Friday, May 23. The first, co-sponsored with the World Council of Churches and International Federation on Ageing, is titled “Interfaith palliative care advocacy for older persons and persons with disabilities in the current global funding crisis.” It consists of a panel discussion moderated by Dr. Sarah Hess of the World Health Organization (WHO), followed by a discussion regarding formation of an ongoing working group. Regular readers of Pallinews will know that IAHPC has hosted several webinars with leaders of faith-based palliative care services around the world. Sign up for the WHA webinar, which you can attend in person or online, here or by scanning the poster's QR code.
The second side event—co-sponsored by Switzerland, Belgium, the Global Commission on Drug Policy, International Association for the Study of Pain, Union for International Cancer Control, and Worldwide Hospice Palliative Care Alliance—will launch the new WHO “Guideline on balanced national controlled medicines policies to ensure medical access and safety.” The guideline will assist Member States to develop and implement national policies for controlled medicines that ensure accessibility, availability, and affordability for medical and scientific needs. It is also aimed at minimizing the public health risk of harms arising from nonmedical use. IAHPC Board Member Dr. Maya Jane Bates will moderate this in-person side event, being held at the Palais de Nations on Friday May 23 at 12:30 p.m. I will report on it in the next issue of Pallinews.
IAHPC statements and advocacy notes relevant to the World Health Assembly agenda will be available on our webpage and will be posted on social media. Please follow us, if you do not already, on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and BlueSky.
Advocacy for palliativistas
On May 6, two days before this issue of Pallinews reaches your inbox, I will give the ATLANTES Lecture at the University of Navarra in Pamplona, Spain. The title of my address is, “Desde la asistencia diaria a la política global: el papel de los profesionales en el desarrollo de Cuidados Paliativos,” or “From bedside care to global policy: the role of professionals in palliative care development.” We will share the recording when it becomes available.
Editor's reminder: As reported in the previous issue of Pallinews, the APHN Atlas of Palliative Care in the Asia Pacific Regions 2025 was launched on April 24. It is the first time that ATLANTES has coordinated an atlas for this region; it joins atlases for Africa, the Eastern Mediterranean, Europe, and Latin America, all of which are being updated. The atlases are available free to download on the ATLANTES website.