Dear Readers,
October is Members’ Month, and we are celebrating the support we receive from individuals and institutions around the world by giving away prizes in two categories. One is in recognition of loyalty among current members who have kept their membership active for at least two consecutive years; the other is in recognition of those who bring in new members and invite others to join. The Membership Matters section of this newsletter includes the announcement, and instructions on how to be eligible.
We hope that you will take advantage of this opportunity and keep supporting IAHPC and our mission to promote and advance palliative care globally.
Saturday, October 13 is World Hospice Palliative Care Day (WHPCD), a great campaign coordinated by the Worldwide Hospice Palliative Care Alliance (WHPCA) with the support of the global palliative care community. The focus of this year’s World Day is ‘Palliative Care – Because I Matter!’ to stress the importance of the individual experience. It also ties in with the centenary of Cicely Saunders’ birth and her iconic quote: ‘You matter because you are you, and you matter until the end of your life.’
Many organizations throughout the world are planning celebrations to increase awareness among lay people, governments, and patients that palliative care improves the quality of life of patients and families, and that appropriate policies and funding mechanisms need to be put in place to ensure access to palliative care to those in need. More about WHPCD — including initiatives taking place around the world, photos, and resources — are available on the WHPCA website here.
Many thanks to all our members across the globe for your efforts to relieve suffering!
We recently disseminated a press release about a White Paper, developed by the Vatican-based Pontifical Academy for Life (PAV), that describes a broad-based, expert-led effort to develop recommendations for improving global palliative care. The Journal of Palliative Medicine article, ‘White Paper for Global Palliative Care Advocacy: Recommendations from a PAL-LIFE Expert Advisory Group of the Pontifical Academy for Life, Vatican City,’ is a product of the work by a group of experts in palliative care advocacy who represent different faiths and were invited by the PAV to develop strategic recommendations to advance global palliative care. The expert group identified 43 recommendations and 13 stakeholder groups, targeting the most important recommendations for each stakeholder group. Liliana is a member of the group and a coauthor of the paper. The article is available free in English and in Spanish.
Until next month,
Lukas Radbruch, MD
Chair, Board of Directors
Liliana De Lima, MHA
Executive Director
This newsletter, including (but not limited to) all written material, images, photos are protected under international copyright laws and are property of the IAHPC. You may share the IAHPC newsletter preserving the original design, the IAHPC logo, and the link to the IAHPC website, but you are not allowed to reproduce, modify, or republish any material without prior written permission from the IAHPC.