From the President’s Desk
Dear Friends,
I am delighted to announce that the much awaited IAPCON 2022 website is live now! I invite you all to participate in this virtual international conference as it is a unique opportunity for the palliative care community from India and beyond, to come together for a mutual exchange of knowledge and experiences, as we network and learn from the wisdom shared by eminent National and International faculties. Dr. Anjum Joad Khan, the organizing secretary of IAPCON 2022, and her team have been working hard to present to us an incredible learning experience. Please visit the conference website for further details. Don’t forget to submit your abstract by 15th November, 2021. Register before 31st October, 2021 to avail the early bird registration offer.
I would like to also bring to your attention that the IAPC’s Annual General Body Meeting will be held virtually on 12th November, 2021, between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m.
I am also excited to invite everyone to participate in the IAPC’s World Hospice and Palliative Care Day (WHPCD) Video to celebrate palliative care providers from across the country. Don’t forget to send us a video of your palliative care service at iapc.whpcd@gmail.com before 15th September, 2021 to be featured in the IAPC’s WHPCD video! Further details regarding this, is enclosed in this newsletter.
A lot has happened in the field of education and training during August, 2021. Continue reading our newsletter to know more about these activites. Based on the requests received, we at the IAPC Academy, have included a couple of lectures by International faculty in the current lecture series. The IAPC Academy is proud to present, a session by the very eminent global Faculty, Prof. Eduardo Bruera on 20th September, 2021 between 6:30 a.m. and 7:30 a.m. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to learn from one of the best!
We are humbled by the wonderful and encouraging feedback we received from our readers, regarding the special feature on Pediatric Palliative Care in the August edition of the IAPC newsletter. These special features will be presented till WHPCD, and are aimed at directing your attention to the inequity in access to palliative care, for various sections in our community. I am happy to announce that this edition brings to you a selection of articles by experts from the field of Geriatric Palliative Care and palliative care for the LGBTI. I hope that you will enjoy reading this special feature. Please drop us an email to share your comments, thoughts and feedback. Alternatively, you could also share feedback on our facebook page or twitter. I request you to please share these special features on your social media platforms to raise awareness and advocate for inclusivity.
I take this oppurtunity to also congratulate our colleagues who work so hard to develop palliative care in the different regions of our country. Efforts by regional groups are to be applauded for driving the agenda of palliative care across the country. I recently had the opportunity to visit Goa and witnessed for myself the commendable efforts by the regional group there. To say the least, I was very impressed with their hard work, their positive attitude and their drive to make palliative care accessible to the needy. During my visit, Dr. Anupama Borkar of Goa Medical College had arranged for a meeting with Shri Vishwajeet Rane the Health Minister of Goa, who has assured the palliative care fraternity of Goa of his support. Congratulations to Team Goa!
I cannot stress again the importance of following COVID safety protocols as we must continue to exercise caution towards the ever evolving pandemic.
Wishing you all safe and happy days!
Best Regards,
Dr. Sushma Bhatnagar
President, IAPC
IAPC’s Special Feature on Geriatric Palliative Care and Palliative Care for the LGBTI Community
We are delighted to present to you, the second part of IAPC’s special feature in connection with the World Hospice and Palliative Care Day (WHPCD).
In this edition, we present two special features: one on Geriatric Palliative Care and the other on Palliative Care for the LGBTI community to generate awareness and improve the momentum for these two communities in the country.
Each feature encompasses a selection of articles (experiences, stories and other key recommendations etc.) from geographically dispersed expert palliative care practitioners from different cadres (Doctors, Nurses, Counsellors) and from different institutional setups (Private hospitals, Stand alone centers, hospices and NGOs).
The theme for this year’s World Hospice and Palliative Care Day (WHPCD), observed on 9th October, 2021, is ‘Leave no-one behind – equity in access to palliative care’.
We, at the IAPC, wish to draw your attention towards the inadequate integration of PC within the healthcare system and the subsequent inequity in access to PC for the various sections (eg. LGBTI, Homeless, Pediatric, Geriatric etc.) of our population. Each edition of the newsletter, starting from the August 2021 edition to the November 2021 edition will therefore feature a special series to highlight the need for palliative care services for one or two of those sections of the population who are facing an unequal access to PC.
Announcements / Messages from IAPC
IAPC announces the date for its AGBM!
The IAPC’s Annual General Body Meeting (AGBM) will be held virtually on Friday, 12th November, 2021, between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m.
A unanimous decision was taken to conduct the IAPC’s AGBM virtually. The decision was taken during the IAPC’s Central Council (CC) meeting held virtually on Monday, 28th July, 2021. Members are requested to follow updates on the IAPC website.
Members are requested to update their email address and their mobile number with the IAPC. Please email your current email and mobile number to iapcmembership@gmail.com, failing which we will not be able to share with you the Zoom Link to participate in the IAPC’s AGBM.
IAPC’s Election notification
The IAPC Elections for the post of President, Secretary and Central Council Members will be held online during the second week of January (2022). This again, is due to the limitations imposed by the pandemic. The election date will be announced through the IAPC website.
Members are requested to update their email address and their mobile number with the IAPC. Please email your current email and mobile number to iapcmembership@gmail.com
Registrations open for IAPCON 2022, Jaipur!
The organizing committee of IAPCON 2022, led by Dr. Anjum Joad Khan, has been working very hard to present to you a high quality conference filled with the latest evidence and practices in Palliative Care.
The organisers invite you to an exciting array of pre conference workshops which include ‘How psychologists can bring their expertise to palliative care?’, ‘Safe use of Methadone’, ‘The nuances of social work in palliative care’, ‘Ethics in Clinical practice and Research in Palliative care’, ‘Sessions by the End-of-Life Nursing Education Consortium’, ‘USG in Palliative care’, etc.
Eminent and the brightest stars from the Palliative Care fraternity, both from India and beyond will be participating in the conference, scheduled to be held between Friday the 11th to Sunday the 13th February 2022. Don’t miss the opportunity to participate and listen to Dr. Eduardo Bruera, Dr. Frank Ferris Dr. Cynthia Goh and Dr Chong Po Heng.
We invite you to please visit the conference website to know more and register for the conference! An extremely reasonable fee structure and an exciting combo offer to avail IAPC life membership and conference registration also has been announced!
Make this an opportunity to become a life member of the IAPC and enjoy the benefits!
Hurry now to avail the early bird registration offer!!
Entries invited for the IAPC’s WHPCD Video!
Here is an opportunity to celebrate you and your team’s service to humanity! The IAPC’s World Hospice and Palliative Care Day’s (WHPCD) video aims to celebrate and showcase Palliative Care Service Providers from across the country.
The IAPC is inviting Organizations, Groups and Individuals working in Palliative Care to participate in the IAPC’s WHPCD’s video to celebrate Palliative care service providers from across the country. Entries to include two relevant photographs depicting Patient care, PC teams or Individuals and a video clip of less than two minutes detailing one’s services, achievements and existing barriers. The relevant information can be emailed to iapc.whpcd@gmail.com before Wednesday, 15th September, 2021.
Don’t miss this opportunity to join us and share with the world your journey in palliative care!
Education and Training
Registrations open for the IAPC’s online workshop on Psychosocial care in chronic illnesses (non oncology)!
The IAPC’s new batch for the online workshop on the Psychosocial Aspects of providing care to patients with Non-Oncological Conditions in a Palliative Care setting will begin on Saturday, 9th October, 2021, on the occasion of the World Hospice and Palliative Care Day.
The workshop will be held virtually during the weekends and is aimed for Doctors, Nurses, Counsellors and Social Workers who are keen to understand the psychosocial and spiritual issues in chronic illness, and the coping mechanisms impacting the quality of life of the patients and the caregivers in the palliative care setting.
Hurry and submit your applications by Wednesday, 15th September 2021! Please click here to know more about this course.
Update from IAPC ACADEMY
Report on activities in August
The palliative care fraternity from across the country and beyond, continued to participate in the weekly IAPC Academy webinars, held every Monday between 6:30 a.m. and 7:30 a.m. The webinars of the IAPC Academy Lecture Series 3 were witnessed by an average of 100 participants per session.
The August series was kick started by Dr. Nandan Choudhary’s fantastic presentation on ‘Neurologic Emergencies 1: Malignant Spinal Cord Compression’.
Dr. Puneet Rathore took over the baton and delivered an enlightening session on ‘Neurologic Emergencies 2: Status Epilepticus, Raised Intracranial Pressure, Posterior Reversible Encephalopathy Syndrome’.
The third session was informative and was delivered by Dr. Ajisha P. A. on ‘Endocrine Emergencies: Adrenal Emergencies, Thyroid Emergencies, Carcinoid Crisis’.
The following week, Dr. Anupama Borkar delivered an impressive and remarkable presentation on ‘Haematological Emergencies: Blast Crisis, Hyperleukocytosis, Tumour Lysis Syndrome, Thrombotic Thrombocytopenic Purpura, Haemolytic Uraemic Syndrome, Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis’.
The August series concluded with Dr. Rucha Patil’s excellent and very interactive session on ‘Vascular Emergencies 1: Cancer Associated Venous Thrombosis’.
Our palliative care community was absolutely delighted to learn from all the faculties. We sincerely thank all our faculty for sharing their time and expertise with us during these lectures.
Please click here to access recordings of their sessions.
Sessions planned for September
We are honoured and take immense pleasure to announce that the very eminent Professor Eduardo Bruera will be delivering a lecture on ‘Integration of Palliative Medicine: The science behind it and how it improves quality of life’, on Monday, 20th September, 2021 between 6:30 a.m. and 7:30 a.m.

We invite your enthusiastic participation for all the upcoming sessions in September 2021.
July Batch of CCEPC course
The 3rd online batch of the IAPC’s Certificate Course in Essentials of Palliative Care (CCEPC) course concluded successfully on Sunday, 1st August, 2021. This batch saw a record 435 participants’ register for this introductory course in palliative care; a testament to the growing demand for palliative care services across the country.
The success of the program is best denoted by the below testimonials
We are indebted to TCS for their constant support to host our online examinations. It has been decided to hold the online Mock examination on Saturday, 18th September 2021, between 10 a.m. and 11 a.m. and the Final examination on Saturday, 25th September 2021 (Saturday) between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m.
Best wishes to the candidates attending the exam!
Awards and Recognitions
AIIMS Raipur dedicates a unit to Specialist Palliative Care
We are happy to announce that a dedicated unit for Palliative Care services has been initiated at AIIMS Raipur, under the able guidance of Dr. Avinash Tiwari.
The unit is currently under the aegis of Department of Medical Oncology and provides services to both oncology patients and non-oncology patients suffering from Serious Health Related issues such as Sickle Cell Disease which is endemic within the state. Services are catered to patients with sickle cell anemia by integrating a special sickle cell clinic every Thursday. The unit plans to expand it’s services to offer Renal Supportive Care and is working on Conservative Kidney Management with the Department of Nephrology.
The Specialist Palliative Care Unit offers both OPD and IPD services and aims to make Palliative Care accessible for all.
This is indeed a step in the right direction. Congratulations to Dr. Avinash Tiwari and the rest of the team!
Dr. Republica Sridhar bestowed with the Asia One Women Empowerment Entrepreneur Award
Dr. Replublica Sridhar, the Managing Trustee and the Medical Director of RMD Pain and Palliative Care Trust, Chennai, has been bestowed with the ‘Asia One Women Empowerment Entrepreneur Award for 2020-2021’, by the Asia Africa Business and Social Forum, in recognition of her stellar contribution and commitment to palliative care by “ensuring that those from impoverished and destitute backgrounds who are suffering from terminal or chronic illnesses receive access to quality healthcare and support” .
Asia One’s Women Empowerment Awards recognizes the achievements of ambitious women who have left indelible impressions of glory in their respective spheres due to their determination, perseverance and passion to make it big along with their efforts to help economies thrive.
Excerpts from Dr. Republica’s acceptance speech highlighted the steady surge for global palliative care services when she said “This award puts palliative care in perspective because this is an area where a lot of recognition is needed…. Covid has also proved that such chronic diseases, elderly people and people who are beyond curative stages need a lot of care and intervention”.
Congratulations Dr. Republica! We are proud of you.
Ms. Poonam Bagai awarded the Women Leader in Social Impact 2021
Ms. Poonam Bagai, the Founder Chairman of Cankids… KidsCan and also the Vice-Chairman of Pallium India was felicitated as the ‘Women Leader in Social Impact 2021’ by the distinguished Vedica Women Alliance (V-WA) 50 for her outstanding work and dedication towards “Leading development initiatives that work towards an equitable and sustainable world by solving challenges and empowering communities”.
The V-WA 50 is an initiative to recognize, reward, and replicate women’s professional success by facilitating visibility for these women by celebrating their stories, and their achievements to inspire generations of women towards success.
“Cankids as an organisation is not only women-led, we are proud of the fact that 64% of colleagues in our workforce are women. We are strong advocates for fairness, equity and inclusion. Our women Leaders are committed to serve as role models for our women staff, parent members, and girl survivors and inspire them to think big and progress towards a healthier global community” said Ms. Bagai while accepting this award.
Congratulations Ms. Bagai! We wish you the best for all your future endeavours.
Interesting Reads
World Lung Cancer day, 1 August
Globally, August 1 is commemorated as World Lung Cancer Day. The day is celebrated by raising awareness about the disease and to sensitize people about the preventive measures and the habits and factors that can lead to the disease. Though lung cancer is a dangerous disease, its fatality can be prevented with treatment during the early stages.
“Timely integration of palliative care in the course of illness have been found to be associated with better quality of life, a better understanding of the disease and treatment goals, a better end of life care and eventually better survival” says Dr. Prabhat. Click here to continue reading his interesting article.
World Humanitarian Day, 19 August
“World Humanitarian Day is celebrated every year on August 19th. It is a day in which we honour humanitarian workers who save lives and provide protection to people most in need in humanitarian crises, and remember those workers who have been killed or injured in the course of their work. World Humanitarian Day must be about honouring those humanitarians who stay with the dying while they save the living. It’s time to broaden the narrative”, says Ms. Coghlan in her article.
Click here to continue reading Ms. Coghlan’s very enlightening article.
New edition of the ‘Textbook of Palliative Medicine and Supportive Care’ launched
The third edition of the ‘Textbook of Palliative Medicine and Supportive Care’, edited by Eduardo Bruera, Irene J. Higginson, Charles F. von Gunten, and Tatsuya Morita has been launched recently.
This new edition provides the essential clinical guidance both for those embarking upon a career in palliative medicine and for those already established in the field. The team of international experts distil what every practitioner needs to know into a practical and reliable resource. The book is available for purchase on Amazon.
Surviving COVID-19 is Half the Battle; Living Life with Perceived Stigma is the Other Half: A Cross-Sectional Study
“Patients suffer from stigma in their day to day lives. Stigma brings upon stress and affects quality of life”, report the authors of this thought provoking paper.
Click here to read how COVID-19 continues to create havoc in the day to day lives of those recovered from COVID-19.
A Pink Salwar
The Pink Salwar is a narrative by a doctor, who experienced the trauma of witnessing innumerable Covid deaths as she and her team watched helplessly as the virus choked the breath from their patients. “The team stands dazed, stifled by PPE, stifled by not being able to console each other by a squeeze of the hand or a pat on the shoulder.”, narrates Dr. Padmasayee Papineni in her story.
Please follow this link to continue reading this touching narrative.
Other upcoming events
Register for the ‘ASCO Palliative Care e-Course’
The Tata Memorial Hospital, Department of Palliative Medicine, in collaboration with the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) & Palliative Care Interdisciplinary (PCIC) is organizing a virtual 2 weekend course, ‘ASCO Palliative Care e-Course’ (APCeC) on 2nd, 3rd, 9th and 10th October 2021 between 5 p.m. and 9 p.m.
The core and advanced Palliative Care course provides an opportunity for practicing and in-training Oncologists, Palliative Care Physicians, General Practitioners, Nurses, Pharmacists and Rehabilitation Specialists from India and neighbouring countries, to receive additional training and learn from eminent international and national faculty.
Interested participants will be required to complete an application process. Please contact Dr. Akanksha at pallmeded75@gmail.com for further details regarding the course.
To offer help and support during challenging times
- Bereavement support India: https://www.bereavementsupportindia.co.in/
- Sukh Dukh Helpline: https://palliumindia.org/2020/10/sukh-dukh-helpline
- Caregiver Saathi: https://caregiversaathi.co.in/index.php
- Canhelper: https://www.cipla.com/press-releases-statements/can-helper-indias-first-toll-free-emotional-support-helpline-cancer
- National Helpline for Psychosocial and Mental health support offered by The MoHFW, GoI and NIMHANS: 080-46110007 (If you are a health care worker, please press 5 when prompted after dialing the above number to access a direct and dedicated line for healthcare workers)