Regional Reports
Serbia
“This is to inform you that oral morphine has arrived at the Institute for Oncology and Radiology in Serbia (IORS).
To give you a short background: In February 2006, in response to the current unavailability of oral morphine in Serbia (and to an urgent request by the IORS) the Minister of Health has allowed healthcare organizations to import morphine.
The IORS was the only institution that has started the process of importing SR and IR morphine. Morphine (IR: 10mg and 20 mg and SR: 10mg, 30mg, 60mg, 100 mg) reached IORS on Dec 25 and now it is in the pharmacy. The drug will be available to IORS patients, both inpatients and outpatients
Unfortunately, we still have to work to ensure morphine availability in the whole country.”
Snezana Bosnjak
Serbia
South East Asia
Flinders University in association with the National Cancer Centre Singapore and the Asia Pacific Hospice Palliative Care Network have put together a program for a Graduate Certificate in Palliative Care. The underlying philosophy was to make post graduate study available to practicing clinicians from across the region (spanning from Nepal to Japan) who would otherwise be unable to study at a post graduate level because of financial differences between countries.
There is now in place a formal relationship between Flinders University Department of Palliative & Supportive Services in Adelaide Australia and the National Cancer Centre Singapore which provides resources for a number of students and the physical location of the intensive.
Each program consists of two, two week, intensives with pre-reading and subsequent assessment together with supernumerary clinical attachments in an accredited setting that compliments the practitioner’s skills.
Sixteen students were chosen from 48 applications from almost every country in South East Asia. The applicant’s backgrounds included nursing, social work and medical practitioners. Current students’ practice settings include HIV medicine, palliative care, anaesthetics, radiation oncology, pain medicine, intensive care and community care.
The plan is to run the program for 20 students each year and in 2008 to look at sites other than Singapore to ensure that costs are kept down for a wide range of students from the region.
This is an exciting initiative from which both the teachers and the students will learn. It has been a humbling experience to see the extraordinary services provided to people with life limiting illnesses in resourced challenged areas. The dedication and commitment of the practitioners who take substantial time out of their lives in this unfunded educational opportunity is extraordinary to witness.
David Currow, MD
Doctor Currow is currently Professor of Palliative and Supportive Services at Flinders University in South Australia and Director of the International Institute of Palliative and Supportive Studies (IIPSS) and the Southern Adelaide Palliative Services in Adelaide.
Dr. Currow is also a member of the IAHPC Board.
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