2010; Volume 11, No 11, November

 
IAHPC
 

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IAHPC Traveling Scholar’s Report

Ethics Page – Dignity Conserving Palliative Care

Palliative Care Book of the Month and Other Book Reviews

Announcements

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Announcements

From Mongolia on World Hospice and Palliative Care Day 2010

Dear friends,

The Mongolian Palliative Care Society very successfully celebrated 10 years of palliative care in Mongolia during the World Hospice and Palliative Care Day (WHPCD). on October 8, 2010. We organized a conference for 250 people and during this meeting presented the Best Teacher Award to Dr. Frank Ferris, from the USA. The celebration of the WHPCD included the participation of the Vice minister J. Tsolmon, policy makers from the Ministry of Health, directors of the HSUM, some head of departments of the HSUM, teachers of the medical schools, all hospice workers (doctors, nurses, social workers, pastors, voluntary care givers, some patients), and medical students. Two free books and 2 leaflets (published especially for the 10 th anniversary of palliative care in Mongolia) were distributed to all participants.

Mongolia on World Hospice and Palliative Care Day 2010
Conferences, musical presentations, TV programs and many other activities were carried out to celebrate the WHPCD and the 10 year anniversary of palliative care in Mongolia.

Odontuiya Davaasuren. MD, PhD
Assistant Professor of the GP Dept. HSUM
President of Mongolian Palliative Care Society


Africa

From the Economist, “A lot of pain, Africans needs more morphine”

http://www.economist.com/node/17155927


From the Pain & Policy Studies Group

2008 Global, Regional, and National opioid consumption statistics now available

The Pain & Policy Studies Group (PPSG) is pleased to announce its annual release of new and updated global, regional, and national consumption data for fentanyl, hydromorphone, methadone, morphine, oxycodone, and pethidine.  In an effort to provide these data in a more user-friendly format, PPSG has revised the opioid consumption data web pages, now offering more direct access to new 2008 global, regional and country consumption data, including revised data for 2004 - 2007. As always, we are grateful to the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) for their continued collaboration and for providing annual updates of this important data.

A review of the 2008 INCB morphine data reported by governments reveals that high-income countries (as defined by the World Bank income-level classification) accounted for nearly 91% of medical morphine consumed in the world, but comprised only 17% of the total population. In contrast, low- and middle-income countries, representing the remaining 83% of the world’s population, consumed a mere 9% of the total morphine consumption. These figures point to the large and continuing disparity in morphine consumption among countries, and provide further evidence of the inadequate global treatment of pain, especially in low- and middle-income countries.

However, there continues to be some notable increases in opioid consumption in a few countries where International Pain Policy Fellows have been making progress to improve the availability of opioids, such as morphine.  In Panama, the milligram per capita consumption of morphine more than quadrupled from 2007 to 2008. Similarly, in Vietnam, morphine consumption has been continuously increasing since 2003.  In 2008, the amount of morphine (mg/capita) consumed in Vietnam represents a four-fold increase since 2003.

In addition, the PPSG is excited to announce a new tool on the consumption data pages, the Morphine Equivalence (ME) metric.   Using the INCB data it receives annually, and applying conversion factors from the WHO Collaborating Center for Drugs Statistics Methodology, the PPSG developed an ME metric for 6 principal opioids used to treat moderate to severe pain. The ME allows for equianalgesic comparisons between countries of the aggregate consumption of these principal opioids, thereby providing a more complete picture of a country’s capability to treat moderate to severe pain than is possible by analyzing morphine consumption alone. ME data is now provided on the global, regional and all country profile pages and will be annually updated as new data becomes available.

The updated consumption data, including the morphine equivalence data, can be accessed from the PPSG homepage: http://www.painpolicy.wisc.edu/


ASIA PACIFIC HOSPICE PALLIATIVE CARE NETWORK (APHN) DIPLOMA OF PALLIATIVE CARE / GRADUATE CERTIFICATE IN PALLIATIVE CARE, FLINDERS UNIVERSITY  

We are pleased to announce that applications can now be made for the 2011 intake of the APHN Diploma/Graduate Certificate in Palliative Care of Flinders University.  

The APHN Diploma/Graduate Certificate in Palliative Care is a specially designed course run by the National Cancer Centre Singapore and the Palliative and Supportive Services, Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia, in association with the Lien Centre for Palliative Care. The one-year distance-learning program includes two 2-week classroom intensives in Singapore. The aim of the course is to give medical and nursing professionals the opportunity to deepen knowledge relevant to their practice.  

Candidates who complete a clinical attachment of two months at an accredited institution will be awarded the APHN Diploma of Palliative Care.

The course fee is subsidised for candidates from developing countries. Bursaries are available from some international organisations including the International Association for Hospice and Palliative Care (IAHPC) and Help the Hospices (HtH). Information about the HtH Wolfson International bursaries is found at: http://www.aphn.org/ The link to more details about the IAHPC Traveling Scholarships can be found here: http://www.hospicecare.com/Travellscholars/  

The attached brochure gives full details and the course fee. The closing date for application is 20 November 2010.

The course brochure and application form can also be downloaded from the APHN website at www.aphn.org

Please contact the APHN Secretariat or Ms Geraldine Goh at [email protected] for more details.

With warm regards

Wei-Yee Sum (Ms)
APHN Secretariat

ASIA PACIFIC HOSPICE PALLIATIVE CARE NETWORK (APHN)
Office: +65 6436 8293 | Fax: +65 6220 7490 | Email: [email protected] | http://www.aphn.org/
Mailing Address: Department of Palliative Medicine, National Cancer Centre, 11 Hospital, Singapore 169610, SINGAPORE


For the first time, The American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine (AAHPM) has established Scholarships to attend the 2011 Annual Assembly in Vancouver from February 16-19, 2011

The Developing Countries Scholarship Fund was established to provide access to quality education for physicians who reside in HINARI countries (as defined by the World Health Organization ) and care for seriously ill patients to attend the Annual Assembly. It provides full financial support (up to $5,000) and covers ordinary costs associated with registration, travel-related expenses (air fare, cab fare, meals), and lodging.

For more info about the meeting, see http://www.aahpm.org/learn/2011annualassembly/geninfo.html

Use the application form at the above link. Deadline for application is November 15, 2010.

AAHPM International Corresponding Membership is also available to physicians living in HINARI countries

To join AAHPM free of charge as an International Corresponding Member and receive online access to the Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, and other electronic mailings, see http://www.aahpm.org/membership/default/index.html 


From the American Society of Clinical Oncology

Two International Development and Education Awards (IDEA) in Palliative Care are now available from the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO).

The application will officially open on November 1.  The due date for completed applications is January 12, 2011.

 More detail can be found at www.ascocancerfoundation.org/idea.  Some eligibility highlights (more details on the website):

  1. Must be an oncologist
  2. Must be from a low- or middle-income country as defined by the World Bank (complete list of eligible countries available at www.ascocancerfoundation.org/idea )
  3. Must have fewer than 10 years experience in the field of oncology

Next steps:

  1. From now until January, ASCO staff will be monitoring the applications coming in, answering applicant questions, etc.
  2. In December, we will be soliciting several US or Canadian ASCO members to serve as mentors to the IDEA-PC awardees and host them at their institution for a few days after the ASCO Annual Meeting.  We hope you will consider this.  Please let me know if you are interested or have questions.
  3. In February, we will organize a conference call with you to review and select the IDEA-PC awardees.  More details to come.

Thank you again for your support, and ideas for promotion.

My best,
Doug

Doug Pyle
Senior Director, International Affairs
American Society of Clinical Oncology
2318 Mill Road, Suite 800
Alexandria, VA 22314
T: +1-571-483-1510
F: +1-571-366-9554
E: [email protected]
www.asco.org | www.cancer.net | www.ascocancerfoundation.org


From the National Health Service (NHS), UK

NHS Evidence - supportive and palliative care 

Dear all,

Each month there is a wide range of new items added to the NHS Evidence specialist collection on supportive and palliative care.  From the last two month’s lists of entries, Dr Jason Boland has selected those which may be of particular interest (see below).  Jason is a clinical lecturer at the University of Sheffield, where he is currently undertaking a PhD.  He can be cont acted via: [email protected]

Users who cannot easily access the web links below from their email software should access the full list via the link near the top of the home page: http://www.library.nhs.uk/palliative/ or See the full lists of new records added each month

NHS Evidence - supportive and palliative care

Guidelines

Department of Health:

British Association of Perinatal Medicine:

Department of Health:

Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews

Clinical Knowledge Summaries (CKS)

Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects (DARE)

Some of the items recently added to the 'Evidence in the News' RSS feed

Home page: www.library.nhs.uk/palliative/

Contact
Dr Richard Stevens, Research Associate,
University of Sheffield, Academic Unit of Supportive Care,
Sykes House, Little Common Lane, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, S11 9NE, UK
Telephone: +44 (0) 114 2620174
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.shef.ac.uk/medicine/oncology/staffprofiles/stevens.html

Project Manager, ‘NHS Evidence – supportive and palliative care’

www.library.nhs.uk/palliative/

www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/supportive-and-palliative-care-evidence.html

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