About International Association For Hospice and Palliative Care -
A not for profit organization

	Mission
	Vision
	Definition of Hospice/Palliative Care
	IAHPC Board Of Directors
	IAHPC Officers/Staff Members
	IAHPC Webmaster
	See the IAHPC latest Financial Statement

Mission

Our mission is to increase the availability and access to high quality hospice and palliative care for patients and families throughout the world.  We do this by promoting communication, facilitating and providing education, and by becoming an information resource for patients, professionals, health care providers and policy makers around the world.

Vision

IAHPC is a not for profit organization. Where applicable, donations to IAHPC from individuals, companies or sponsors are tax deductible.

IAHPC Board of Directors

Derek Doyle, OBE, MD, FRCSE, FRCPE, FRCGP (Scotland)  Short Bio Founding Member and Adviser Roberto Wenk, MD (Argentina) Short Bio Chair - Board of Directors Eduardo Bruera, M.D. (Argentina, USA) Short Bio Past Chair - Board of Directors David Currow, MD (Australia) Short Bio William C. Farr, Ph.D., M.D. (USA) Short Bio Vice Chair – Board of Directors  Frank Ferris, MD (USA) Short Bio Geoffrey Hanks, (UK) Short Bio Richard Harding, PhD (UK) Short Bio Peter Hudson, PhD (Australia) Short Bio Mohammad Zafir Al-Shahri, MBChB, FFCM, ABHPM (Saudi Arabia) Short Bio Gian Domenico Borasio, MD (Germany) Short Bio Kin-Sang (KS) Chan, MBBS, MRCP, FRCP, FHKAM (Hong Kong) Short Bio Elizabeth Gwyther, MD (South Africa) Short Bio Ednin Hamzah, MD (Malaysia) Short Bio Jacek Luczak, MD (Poland) Short Bio Neil MacDonald CM MD FRCP(C) FRCP (Edin) LLD(HC) (Canada) Short Bio Anne Merriman, MD (Uganda) Short Bio Faith Mwangi-Powell, PhD (Uganda) Short Bio Margaret O'Connor, RN, DN (Australia) Short Bio M.R. Rajagopal, MD (India)  Short Bio Carla Ripamonti, MD (Italy)  Short Bio Roger Woodruff, MD, MBBS, FRACP, FRAChPM (Australia) Short Bio

IAHPC Officers/Staff Members

Executive Director: Liliana De Lima, MHA Short Bio Email: Contact Here

Treasurer: Lina Rozo Short Bio Email: Contact Here

Secretary: Ana Restrepo Short Bio Email: Contact Here

Coordinator Information Services Paige Finan Short Bio Email: Contact Here

Webmaster

Alou Web Design - Anne Laidlaw (Canada) Web site design, updating and marketing for the small business.

** If you wish to contact any of the board members please contact the IAHPC HERE

Definition of Hospice/Palliative Care

Hospice and Palliative Care is the active care of patients with advanced, progressive and incurable disease. Depending on the country, the meaning of Hospice varies from a philosophy of care to the type of setting where the care is provided.

The following is the definition of Palliative Care from the World Health Organization:

Palliative Care is an approach that improves the quality of life of patients and their families facing the problem associated with life-threatening illness, through the prevention and relief of suffering by means of early identification and impeccable assessment and treatment of pain and other problems, physical, psychosocial and spiritual.

Palliative Care:

• Provides relief from pain and other distressing symptoms;
• Affirms life and regards dying as a normal process;
• Intends neither hasten nor postpone death;
• Integrates the psychological and spiritual aspects of patient care;
• Offers a support system to help patients live as actively as possible until death;
• Offers a support system to help the family cope during the patient’s illness and in their own bereavement;
• Uses a team approach to address the needs of patients and their families, including bereavement counseling, if indicated;
• Will enhance quality of life, and may also positively influence the course of illness;
• Is applicable early in the course of illness, in conjunction with other therapies that are intended to prolong life, such as chemotherapy or radiation therapy, and includes those investigations needed to better understand and manage distressing clinical complications.

Source: National Cancer Control Programmes: Policies and Managerial Guidelines, 2^nd Ed. Geneva: WHO, 2002