Volume 24, Number 12: December 2023

Dear Readers:

As the end of the year marks many celebrations and holidays, we extend our best wishes to the global palliative care community, their friends and family members for the coming holidays and hope that next year will bring much happiness and success. To our Christian friends and colleagues around the world, Merry Christmas! To our Jewish friends, happy Hannukah!

Last month, we launched our annual fundraising campaign to support the work of IAHPC and our mission-driven programs. We hope you can contribute and will invite your colleagues and friends to join you! Any amount helps our efforts to continue the work. Our ability to continue to do this work depends heavily on the support we receive from donors such as yourselves. Donating online is easy and secure.

We have the winners of the IAHPC Photo Contest 2023! After a long and difficult selection process, our panel of judges selected the winners of the IAHPC Photo Contest. Congratulations to the four winners! (We have a tie for third place - see on the IAHPC News section to see the photos and learn more). Many thanks to our board members Mary Callaway, Kim Adzich and Gulnara Kunirova and our officers Alison Ramsey and Danilo Fritzler for serving in the panel.

Members, please note two important December deadlines! 

1. IAHPC Scholarships. December 15 is the deadline to apply for scholarships to attend the Latin American Palliative Care Congress to be held in Cartagena, Colombia in March 2024. See the full announcement sent out in November. 
2. IAHPC Recognition Awards. December 31 is the deadline to apply for the Recognition Awards Program. This program’s objectives are: 1) to recognize individuals and institutions dedicated to relieving the serious health-related suffering of patients and their families; and 2) to bring these individuals and institutions to the attention of policy makers, the media, and other relevant institutions and organizations. Candidates for the individual award must be nominated by an IAHPC member. Institutions for the institutional award must be nominated by a representative. See the instructions and application forms.

Our research projects continue to make headway. Many thanks to IAHPC members who answered our invitation to participate in the Best Practices Manual. We have completed the first round of the Delphi process and finalized the preliminary analysis. An invitation for the second round will be sent soon. Watch for some amazing information coming your way!

On a separate note, as revealed in the first News item by Alison and Liliana, 2024 will see some significant changes to this newsletter. The new format is intended to stimulate reader engagement and extend our reach. We are sure this will be a positive change and a nice surprise.

We are saddened to see that several regions of the world continue to experience conflict and war. We hope for lasting peace that will allow people with palliative care needs to access treatment and care where and when they need it.  

Finally, a big thank you to all of you—our members, donors, and readers—for your support and interest in palliative care, and for helping people live long and meaningful lives.

Until next month,

Lukas Radbruch, MD
Chair

Liliana De Lima, MHA
Executive Director

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