Dear readers,
Several important things are happening at the international level.
First, we have received great news from the World Health Organization informing us that our status as a non-governmental organization in formal relations with the WHO has been extended for another three years. We will be working together very closely with WHO in the development and implementation of the World Health Assembly resolution on palliative care which was adopted last year. We are very pleased with this news and look forward to some exciting projects.
Last month, several board members attended the International Congress of the Indian Association for Palliative Care. Doctors Mhoira Leng, Julia Downing, Sushma Bhatnagar, Gayatri Palat, and the two of us, were all there. We had a board meeting and were able to meet in person. Many thanks to Dr. Palat for facilitating the logistics for the board meeting and congratulations to all the members of the organizing committee for an excellent congress!
This month is the fifty-eighth session of the commission on narcotic drugs (CND) in Vienna. IAHPC will be well represented by Lukas and Dr. Katherine Pettus, the IAHPC advocacy officer. We are very proud of the role that IAHPC has been able to play in raising awareness about access to medicines for legitimate needs. We are co-sponsoring a side event on Tuesday March 10 on the ATOME (Access to Opioid Medication in Europe) project presenting the report on the results of the project in Eastern European countries. Dr. Anne Merriman will present the situation in Africa and Professor Rosa Buitrago – a newly elected board member – will present about the advances in Panama. The policy section by Dr. Pettus in this edition of the newsletter includes more information about CND and the side event.
IAHPC is sponsoring a workshop early this month in La Paz, Bolivia on availability and rational use of opioid analgesics. Liliana will be there, facilitating the workshop in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and the Pan American Health Organization, the WHO office for the Americas. We look forward to the recommendations by the participants. Many thanks to all of them for their support!
Until next month,
Lukas Radbruch, MD
Chair, Board of Directors
Liliana De Lima, MHA
Executive Director
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