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Message from the Chair
Kathleen M. Foley, MD (USA)
I want to thank the membership for the opportunity to serve as Chair of IAHPC for the last three years and for the opportunity to lead this unique organization that is committed to advancing hospice and palliative care internationally. Six Board Member’s terms are now ending. I want to acknowledge their contributions to the mission and vision of IAHPC, they are: Gian Domenico Borasio, Eduardo Bruera, Nathan Cherny, Neil MacDonald, Daniela Moisoiu, and Jan Stjernsward. They have all participated actively in the organization, and in their daily work they also serve as role models to advance hospice and palliative care internationally.
As you are all well aware, this organization has benefited from the tireless leadership of Liliana De Lima as our Executive Director and her enthusiastic support staff. I appreciate the opportunity to have worked with them and learn from them.
As we look to our accomplishments over the past three years, we can be proud of numerous activities. Through our liaison with the World Health Organization, we committed to developing a list of essential medicines for palliative care. Using an open and transparent process, we have successfully put together a robust list of essential medicines and widely publicized the list. IAHPC is working closely with the WHO to continue the process of advocating for essential medicines for palliative care and for the creation and development of an evidence base for their appropriate use.
We have formed a close liaison with Willem Scholten, who directs the WHO Access to Medicines Controlled Substance Program, and are working closely with him in his mission to improve access to controlled substances throughout the world for patients with pain.
Another important initiative is our close working relationship with Help the Hospices and the creation of the Worldwide Palliative Care Alliance. IAHPC has strongly supported the need for such a Worldwide Palliative Care Alliance to be a voice of advocacy for hospice and palliative care globally.
We continue to see the demand for information about hospice and palliative care grow as evidenced by the increase in the number of subscribers to our newsletters and our website which receives visits from countries throughout the world and registers more than 1.5 million hits per month.
During my tenure, we have had the opportunity to designate two faculty development programs. One at the University of Catolica, Chile and one at Sichuan University, China and we increased the number of our traveling scholars and traveling fellows to an average of 14 per year .
As we have been able to expand our support from foundations and individuals, many of our activities have benefited from an infusion of funds donated to advance IAHPC’s mission.
As in any growing organization, however, there are many challenges and opportunities for improvement. I leave this work as a legacy to our incoming Chair, Dr. Roberto Wenk, who is an extraordinarily gifted palliative care physician and leader who is committed to advancing IAHPC’s leadership. IAHPC clearly needs to expand the membership and secure sufficient funding to sustain the organization and to build its capacity. In particular, IAHPC needs to focus on strengthening new, young, leaders throughout the world and to expand the faculty development program with it’s goal to support new leaders in resource poor countries as champions and beacons for hospice and palliative care.
I am committed to support the efforts of our new chair, Roberto Wenk, and want to encourage all of you to foster broader participation through our membership, and enhance and encourage professional development in hospice and palliative care. Again, I extend my sincere thanks for the opportunity to work with all of you in this important endeavor.
Sincerely,
Kathy Foley, MD
Chair, Board of Directors
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