IAHPC Traveling Scholar’s Report: Guyana, South America

I attended and actively participated in the recent Children’s Hospice International’s 20th World Congress in Cape Town, South Africa during September, 2009. The congress was very well organized and the venue at the Cape Town International Congress Centre was a superb facility and very conducive to learning.

Considering the rather specialized nature of children’s hospice and palliative care and its relatively short history of development, the congress was well attended, probably attesting to the rapidly growing interest in and increasing importance of this field.

This was a unique opportunity to interact with and share experiences regarding pediatric palliative care with experts and enthusiasts from different parts of the world. The 3-day congress covered most aspects of pediatric palliative care using various formats such as plenary sessions, concurrent sessions, workshops, small group discussions, and a meet-the-experts forum. It effectively catered to the specific needs of members of the multidisciplinary care team so that no one, or group, felt neglected. The mixed format program facilitated a lot of interaction, discussion, socialization and networking. Palliative care in the developing world is often neglected in other international congresses but it was well addressed in this congress. The opportunity to visit a children’s hospice was a great experience.

I learnt a lot from the congress and it has already begun to influence my professional practice as a pediatric palliative care physician. My colleagues and trainees are also benefiting from the dissemination of the knowledge and skills I acquired during the meeting.

I am very grateful to the IAHPC for having provided me the opportunity to participate in this very important congress through the traveling scholarship grant program.

Andrew Amata, MBBS, MD, FMCA
Consultant Pediatric Anesthesiologist & Intensivist,
Pediatric Pain & Palliative Care Physician,
Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation
Guyana, South America