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Message from the Executive Director
Liliana De Lima, MHA (USA)
Dear Readers:
We are starting this year with several new board members some of whom are profiled in this edition of the Newsletter. We look forward to working with them during the next three years as we to continue to support palliative care development around the world.
In January, we had a visit from our new Chair, Dr. Roberto Wenk, who came to Houston from Argentina. We had an opportunity to work on several issues and projects and to draft a new strategic plan that will be presented to the Board. The plan will serve as a guide for us in the years ahead. IAHPC has grown enormously during the past seven years and we need to structure the organization in a way that we are able to respond to the needs of, and collaborate with, the palliative care community both regionally and internationally
IAHPC Grants:
Five IAHPC Traveling Scholarships were awarded to the following individuals:
- Three grants to support their travel to the IV Congress of the Latin American Association for Palliative Care in Lima Peru were awarded to:
- Psychologist Ignacia del Rio, from the Palliative Care program at the Universidad Catolica in Chile
- Psychologist Noemi Diaz, coordinator of the palliative care program at the Fundacion FEMEBA in Argentina
- Doctor Beatriz Thompson is an anesthesiologist from Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital in Belize.
- Doctor Krishna Nair, Medical Director of Chatsworth Regional Hospice in Durban, South Africa in order to attend the Indian annual conference of the Indian Association of Palliative Care (IAPC) at Gokulam Park Inn Convention Center, Kochi, India.
- Nurse Dalitso Tiyamike Mzinganjira, lead Research Nurse at the Lighthouse Trust in Malawi, for support of his travel to attend the diploma course in Palliative Care hosted by Hospice Africa Uganda at Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda.
We look forward to their reports after they return and hope that these grants, and especially the training programs and meetings will give these palliative care leaders the additional skills, knowledge and networking opportunities to improve palliative care in their own countries.
Our grants for the Traveling Scholarship and Fellowship Programs are awarded to the best possible candidates taking into consideration several factors, one of which includes their ability to use the new experience and knowledge after they return home. A committee of five Board members selects the final candidates after a careful review of all applications. Additional information about this program can be found in the IAHPC website at
www.hospicecare.com/Travellscholars/
IAHPC Participation in Meetings:
At the end of March, we will participate and have a booth at the IV Congress of the Latin American Association for Palliative Care in Lima Peru. This meeting attracts about 600 participants from the region. The National Cancer Institute of the USA has provided a grant to support the travel of several Latin American palliative care workers to the meeting. If you plan to be there, please stop by our booth and learn how you can help in the promotion and development of hospice and palliative care around the world. To learn more about this meeting, visit the congress’ website at http://ivcongresoalcp.org/
IAHPC Membership
Many of you should have received emails or letters in the mail with a notice to pay your membership dues. Please review the status of your membership with IAHPC. If you are not a member, please consider joining. Dues provide an important and valuable source of financial support to IAHPC and they help us to help individuals and programs around the world. To become a member, or renew, visit www.hospicecare.com/join.htm. The application is on a secured server, so your information will be safe. If you prefer to send your application via regular mail or fax, the forms may also be downloaded from our website in the same link provided.
Grant to the IAHPC
The US Cancer Pain Relief Committee has awarded the second payment of a grant to support the IAHPC structure and administrative capacity. These funds allow us to pay for most of our administrative and operational expenses so that we may provide our services and fulfill our mission. We are very grateful with the Committee for its continued support and their commitment to support international palliative care initiatives and organizations.
We want to hear from you and appreciate your continuing support.
Until next month,
Liliana De Lima, MHA
Executive Director
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