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Message from the Chair and Executive Director
Roberto Wenk, MD (Argentina)
Liliana De Lima, MHA (USA)
Dear Readers:
This issue marks the 12th Anniversary of the IAHPC Newsletter!
We are very proud of our Newsletter, but most of all we are appreciative of the hard work and dedication of our editor, Dr. Bill Farr, who has edited and produced each edition. The Newsletter has proven to be a wonderful tool to disseminate a broad range of information and increase awareness about hospice/palliative care, upcoming events, and developments around the world. Bill, we are grateful for your support and dedication; we recognize that this would not be possible without your help.
Thanks also to our webmaster, Anne Laidlaw and her team at Alou Web Design, for their excellent work in the lay out, setting and distribution of the Newsletter. Each month Anne receives the NL from Bill, transforms it into an electronic file, creates a text version and a web version and sends it to nearly 8,000 subscribers!
We also wish to thank the many contributors and board members who have supplied us with outstanding content each month. We especially thank Dr. Roger Woodruff for his monthly book reviews and Dr. Carla Ripamonti for her Article of the Month.
Please remember that we accept articles for our publication that describe your progress and the programs that you are implementing in your countries, as well as news from your region.
Last month IAHPC participated in the 4th Latin American Congress on Palliative Care in Lima, Peru. In addition to Liliana, three staff members were present - Ana Restrepo, Lina Rozo and Paige Finan. Not only did IAHPC have a booth, but we also provided support to the meeting in the following ways: We
- secured a grant from the NCI (USA) to support the cost of travel to the Congress for 12 participants from countries in the region.
- funded the Congress website at http://ivcongresoalcp.org/
- provided funds and support to publish the Book of Abstracts for the Congress. This Congress was quite unique in several ways: Seventy five percent of the program was abstract based - each selected by a peer reviewed process. Although this process is common in developed nations, there is limited input from palliative care workers in developing regions.
- reviewed the translation into Spanish of the Open Society Institute’s (OSI) publication Palliative Care as a Human Right and
- facilitated the manufacture and distribution of 200 copies of a CD titled Cuidados Paliativos como Derecho Humano.
The objective of this Congress was to establish methods to improve the participation of palliative care workers in Latin America not only in the Congress but in conducting research and publishing their work.
The Congress registered over 600 participants from 24 different countries; more than 200 posters were presented and more than 140 proposals for seminars were received! We are delighted to learn that the Congress is already generating results because works have been submitted to various journals for publication.
We wish to thank Dr. Maria del Rosario Berenguel, President of the Congress, Dr. Jorge Eisenchlas, President of the Scientific Committee, and Ms Carolina Monti, Manager of the Latin American Association for Palliative Care, for their dedication and commitment to organize an excellent meeting.
We extend our thanks to all the speakers who accepted our invitation to participate and congratulate all our colleagues from Latin America for their hard work, persistence and dedication.
We are very grateful with the Worldwide Palliative Care Alliance (WPCA) steering committee for accepting our invitation to meet in Peru during the Congress. Several members of the WPCA steering group presented topics on how to undertake effective advocacy campaigns, establish effective national associations and fundraise for palliative care.
An important session sponsored by the Pain and Policy Studies Group (PPSG), OSI and IAHPC reviewed the International Fellowship Program on Opioid Availability. Ms. Mary Callaway discussed the foundation of this program. The three current fellows from Latin America (Jorge Eisenchlas – Argentina; Marta Leon – Colombia and Rosa Buitrago – Panama) presented their action plans and discussed their progress and the challenges they faced in implementing their plans to improve access and availability of opioid analgesics in their countries. In spite of the difficulties that each one faced, they were able to make considerable progress in each of their countries that will benefit patients in pain. Congratulations to these three fellows for their achievements and progress.
We are currently carrying out a short survey as part of a strategic plan to respond better to the needs from the global palliative care community. This brief survey will help us improve our Website, will take only a few minutes to complete and your feedback will be of great help to us. By participating in this survey and you can earn an ebook "Coupon Codes for Saving Money Online" Value $24.95 from Alou Web Design.
Enter the survey here www.hospicecare.com/phpQ/fillsurvey.php?sid=24
Until next month,
Roberto Wenk, MD
Chair, Board of Directors
Liliana De Lima, MHA
Executive Director
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