This month we have many reasons to celebrate!
We are very proud of our Newsletter, but most of all we appreciate the work of those who have contributed for so many years to the content and made possible our monthly publication.
The Newsletter has proven to be a wonderful tool to disseminate a broad range of information and increase awareness about hospice and palliative care around the world and has served as a tool for many of you to learn about new developments, events and also to bring attention to your own programs, the challenges that many of you face and the progress that thousands have been able to achieve.
We also thank the many contributors and board members who have supplied us with outstanding content each month. We especially thank our previous Senior Editor, Doctor Dr. William Farr for his dedication during 18 years as editor, Dr. Roger Woodruff for his monthly book reviews, Dr. Katherine Pettus for her policy pieces and Ms. Avril Jackson our current Senior Editor.
Many thanks as well to our members and readers who submit news and articles about their efforts and developments in their countries. 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. Your articles enrich our newsletter and are a crucial part of our mission to facilitate communication. Please contact Avril if you are interested in submitting a piece for our NL.
Thanks also to our web master, Mr. Danilo Fritzler for his excellent work in setting and distribution of the Newsletter. Each month Danilo receives the NL from Avril, transforms it into an electronic file, creates a text version and a web version and sends it to nearly 8,000 subscribers!
IAHPC sponsored, along with several other non-governmental organizations, a side event during the 59th session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs (NCD) in Vienna last month, hosted by the governments of Lithuania, Panamá and Mexico. The side event, entitled Resolving the Global Crisis of Untreated Pain by Improving Access to Controlled Medicines within the Framework of the Sustainable Development Goals, included Dr. Marie-Paule Kieny, Assistant Director-General, World Health Organization, Dr. Gilberto Gerra, UNODC, Dr. Mabvuto Kango, African Union, Mr. Sergio Chaparro, DeJusticia, Colombia, and Dr. Werner Sipp, International Narcotics Control Board, as speakers and was chaired by Lukas. The event went extremely well and Dr. Katherine Pettus will report on this event in the next IAHPC policy brief, in the May edition of our newsletter, as well as other good news happening in international policy.
Several of us will be in the VIII Congress of the Latin American Association for Palliative Care (ALCP) in Mexico City later this month. The Congress is co-sponsored by IAHPC along with the ALCP, and chaired by Doctors Eduardo Garcia Yanneo MD and Felicia Knaul, PhD. As in previous congresses, we will have a booth at the exhibition area. We look forward to sharing experiences and networking with our friends and colleagues from the Region and meeting new ones who are entering the field. Additional information and the program is available in the Congress Website.
We recently announced that IAHPC will be offering 15 Traveling Scholarships to the APCA Conference in Kampala, Uganda next August. The conference is co-hosted by the Worldwide Hospice Palliative Care Alliance (WHPCA). A copy of the announcement is included in this edition. Please share and disseminate – we want to be able to help palliative care workers attend the conference.
The Board of Directors has now approved the Gift Policy that was recently drafted by the IAHPC legal counsel and Liliana. The policy provides a guideline for the IAHPC staff and board members who assist in the gift planning and solicitation process, and for prospective donors who wish to make gifts to IAHPC of unrestricted funds, restricted grants, donations of non-cash assets and endowment funds. The goal of this policy is to encourage giving to IAHPC without encumbering IAHPC with gifts that cost more than benefit IAHPC, and to avoid gifts that the donor restricts in a manner inconsistent with the goals of IAHPC.
You can download a copy of the gift policy here.
Last but not least, we have just published the IAHPC Annual Report 2015 and it is now available in our website. Please read the document and learn about our funders, the programs we invested in, our financial statements and our progress in implementing our strategic plan. Send us a note if you have comments and questions. We would love to hear from you!
Until next month,
Lukas Radbruch, MD
Chair, Board of Directors
Liliana De Lima, MHA
Executive Director
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