Message from the Chair
&
Executive Director
Kathleen M. Foley, MD (USA)
Liliana De Lima, MHA (USA)
Dear readers:
Most of you know by now that Dame Cicely Saunders died on July 14th, in Saint Christopher's Hospice, London. Dame Cicely Saunders was the founder of the modern hospice movement and the first person to call attention to the concept of “Total Pain” which includes the components of physical, spiritual, social and family pain.
Because of her work dedication and untiring energy, many dying patients around the world now have access to better care. The Board of Directors, members and officers of IAHPC express our deepest condolences to her friends, colleagues and her family members. A section of this Newsletter is dedicated to Dame Cicely as a tribute to her and her work. We are forever in her debt for paving the way for so many of us.
Last month we received a grant from the Open Society Institute (OSI) Foundation in Switzerland to support activities in developing countries for the World Hospice and Palliative Care Day (WHPCD) to be held on October 8th, 2005. Many thanks to the OSI Foundation for this grant and for enabling us to help celebrate this important date. The World Hospice and Palliative Care Day is a new unified day of action to celebrate and support hospice and palliative care around the world. It has been developed in association with Voices for Hospices and international and regional hospice and palliative care associations worldwide. On October 8th, many events and activities will take place worldwide and a collective global voice of individuals and associations will raise awareness and understanding of the need and importance of hospice and palliative care. Additional information about the day can be found in the WHPCD website at www.worldday.org
We also wish to thank Mundipharma KK in Japan for their unconditional donation to IAHPC. We are very grateful for this donation and especially wish to thank Mr. Steven Eric Engen, President & Representative Director of Mundipharma, Japan. This grant will enable us to continue providing financial help to programs and individuals in developing countries who are committed to improving access and availability of palliative care in their settings.
We are proud to announce that the IAHPC website has won a Silver Award from the American Association of Webmasters in recognition for the work, effort and information in our site at www.hospicecare.com Congratulations to Anne Laidlaw, our Webmaster, for this well deserved recognition. Our website now has more than 2,500 pages of information and continues to grow. Take a look at our new International Directory and please check to see if your organization, or program, is listed and if the information we have is up to date. The International Directory has more than 800 entries and can be viewed at http://www.hospicecare.com/yp/ If you want to include a listing in the directory, click on the Submit a Listing on the left, under Menu.
We continue to receive emails, faxes and letters thanking us for the donation of the Oxford Textbook of Palliative Medicine. We are glad that IAHPC has been able to help with this donation. Many of those who received the books have already placed them in hospital libraries and are using them to teach medical and nursing workers. We hope that all those who have benefited with this donation will put it to good use, by sharing it with colleagues, co workers, and students. This is a valuable publication that deserves to be used to the greatest extent. Many thanks again to one of our past presidents, Dr. Derek Doyle, for his help in securing this donation to the Clearing House Program by Oxford University Press. It will be a gift that will benefit many for years to come.
Until next month,
Kathy Foley, MD
Chair, Board of Directors |
Liliana De Lima, MHA
Executive Director |
|
© 2005 IAHPC Press
|
