Message from the Chair
&
Executive Director
Kathleen M. Foley, MD (USA)
Liliana De Lima, MHA (USA)
Dear readers:
Welcome to our last issue of this year's Newsletter.
Please remember that we are still accepting applications for the three IAHPC Awards until December 31 st in the following categories: Individual (the Vittorio Ventafridda Award); Institutional and University. The awards provide a US $2000 prize for each. If you are interested in nominating an individual, institution or university, there are still some days left to publicly recognize those who are doing an outstanding job. Additional information on how to apply is available in our website in www.hospicecare.com/Awards/.
As the year ends, we are proud of the things we were able to achieve through our programs and projects and of the support we were able to provide to developing countries in the accomplishment of our mission. We spent almost US $250,000 this year in programs and projects with the help of all our Donors, the Board of Directors, our loyal IAHPC members, the commitment of our employees, the extraordinary work of our webmaster and the collaboration from all organizations whom we had the honor to work with.
Some highlights of the programs and things we accomplished during 2006 are:
• IAHPC’s Clearing House Program sent over 2 tons of donated books and journals to more than 300 programs, libraries and hospitals in developing countries.
• IAHPC’s Traveling Fellowship Program provided grants to individuals who spent time teaching palliative care in Argentina, Bulgaria, Uganda, Kenya and Ghana.
• IAHPC’s Traveling Scholarship Program paid the travel of palliative care leaders from Democratic Republic of Congo, Brazil, Argentina, Peru, Cuba, Romania, Vietnam, Sudan, Serbia, India, Philippines, Egypt, Chile, Tanzania, South Africa and Uruguay to attend seminars, congresses and training courses in USA, Spain, Italy, Singapore, Thailand, Korea and South Africa.
• IAHPC’s Faculty Development Program now supports palliative care faculty positions in Tanzania, China and Chile. Preliminary reports demonstrate that this program may have the potential to incorporate palliative care in the main stream of medicine in developing countries and also be adopted as a component of care for all patients in need.
• IAHPC’s website at www.hospicecare.com is registering almost 3,000 daily visitors and more than 2 million hits per month. The site has 8,000 pages of information which are constantly updated by our Webmaster Anne Laidlaw and her team at Alou Web Design. All the pages are free and are accessed by readers every day from all corners of the globe. Several sections in the website are very popular and register many visitors per day, including the Bookshop that contains books reviews by Dr. Roger Woodruff, one of our board members.
• IAHPC’s Newsletter continues to provide updated information about new developments, events and progress reports from programs and individuals from around the world. We are very grateful with Dr. William Farr, the editor of our NL, for his voluntary work in editing and putting together this NL that reaches more than 7,000 subscribers around the world each month.
In addition to our regular programs mentioned above, this year we were able to collaborate with other organizations on two exciting projects:
• Develop a List of Essential Medicines (EM) for Palliative Care. As we announced in previous press releases and newsletters, IAHPC designed a strategy to develop a List of EM for Palliative Care in response to a request from the WHO Cancer Control Program. IAHPC worked together with several organizations from around the world that represent different fields and geographical areas. IAHPC, in collaboration with the International Palliative Care Initiative of the Open Society Institute, co-funded a meeting in Salzburg where the EM list was finalized. The list has been published in several journals and is also available in the IAHPC Website.
• Develop the Declaration of Venice - The Declaration of Venice is a joint declaration calling for governments, policy makers, health care providers and administrators to support the development of a global agenda for research in palliative care. The declaration was put together with the EAPC and presented during the 4th Research Forum of the EAPC in Venice in May. Several organizations participated in the development of the Declaration and signed it during the meeting. We have continued taking in signatures through our website and more than 1,500 individuals from around the world have signed the declaration. IAHPC will work with the EAPC and the other organizations to identify ways in which the declaration can be used to promote access to information, methodology and technical assistance so that developing countries are able to develop their own research agendas and implement studies specific to the needs of their patient populations.
Partnerships:
• We participated in andco-sponsored palliative care sessions in several congresses and meetings: The 3rd Congress of the Latin American Association for Palliative Care in Venezuela (March); the 4th Research Forum of the European Association for Palliative Care in Venice (May); the International Union Against Cancer World Cancer Congress in Washington DC (July); and the 8th World Congress of the International Psycho-Oncology Society in Venice (October). In addition, IAHPC also co-sponsored, with the World Health Organization, a panel session on improving access to pain relief at the International Congress of the World Regulatory Authorities in Seoul (April).
IAHPC co-funded the cost of travel of the speakers for these meetings as a way to collaborate with existing organizations, especially improving the inclusion of palliative care sessions in congresses where traditionally it is not been included as part of the agenda.
• We collaborated with the Wide World Alliance in the celebration of the World Hospice and Palliative Care Day, by promoting the event, providing technical support and guidance to programs and individuals who celebrated the Day. The Day has proven to be a great way to disseminate information, create awareness and has become an effective advocacy tool for the promotion and development of hospice and palliative care around the world.
• IAHPC has been a member of the EAPC Task Force on the Development of Palliative Care in Europe and will continue collaborating with this task force which has been extremely active and is in the process of writing a report on the development and availability of palliative care services and resources in the region.
In addition, IAHPC has collaborated with organizations, institutions and universities in collecting information for studies and reports for several publications on education, research, and care of patients around the world.
This is our last Newsletter for 2006. It is a time to reflect on the work we have done and the plans we have for the future. Our strong commitment to supporting the development of palliative care around the world will continue to be our driving force. We wish to thank all those who make our work worthwhile - the patients and their families, the health care workers, and the volunteers who dedicate and give so much to palliative care.
We could not have been able to achieve the above without the generous support of our board of directors, our members, donors, companies, foundations and organizations which believe in IAHPC’s mission and in our ability to have an impact on the promotion and development of palliative care. We are very proud of what we were able to accomplish this year with very limited funding. Our ability to continue to help others depends heavily on the support we receive from all of you, so please consider donating to IAHPC. You can donate through our website or contact our office for more information. Call us Toll Free 1+ 866-374-2472
We thank you for your support, hope you enjoy your holidays and wish you the best for the upcoming year.
Regards,
Kathy Foley, MD
Chair, Board of Directors
Liliana De Lima, MHA
Executive Director
|
