Announcements / Messages from IAPC
IAPC’s Infographic of the month
The February Infographic focuses on the concept of ‘Selfcare for Palliative care Professionals’.
This initiative reflects the IAPC’s constant endeavour to promote palliative care education and awareness across the country.
Please feel free to share this infographic within your networks. The same will be available on our social media platforms and also on our website. Please click here to access the same.
We thank Dr Wasimul Hoda (Assistant Professor, Department of Anesthesia, RIMS, Ranchi) for his enthusiasm and constant support towards this initiative.
Invitation to participate in the IAPC’s upcoming AGBM
All members of the IAPC are invited to participate in the IAPC’s upcoming Annual General Body meeting (AGBM) scheduled to be held at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday, 10th February, 2024.
As always, the AGBM will be held on the second day of the Annual International Conference of the Indian Association of Palliative Care. The AGBM this year will therefore be an in-person meeting held at the conference venue, in Hall A, Auditorium, Ground floor, 1C, New GCRI building, Civil Hospital Campus, Asarwa, Ahmedabad, Gujarat.
The agenda for the AGBM as below:
- Welcome
- Presentation of the Minutes of the previous last AGBM / CC meeting
- Update: IAPC’s Activities
- Presentation of the IAPC’s Financial Statements
- Resolution on Academy of Palliative Medicine
- Update: Academy of Palliative Medicine (APM)
- Update: IAPC Election
- Update: Indian Journal of Palliative Care
- Update: IAPCON 2025
- IAPCON 2026
- Other matters with the permission from chair
An addendum regarding APM proposed to the IAPC’s constitution
An addendum on the Academy of Palliative Medicine (APM) to the IAPC’s Constitution is considered for discussion during the IAPC’s upcoming Annual General Body Meeting (AGBM) in February 2024.
After consulting with the Charity Commissioner at Ahmedabad and taking legal opinion from a person recommended by him, it was decided that there was no need to amend the IAPC Constitution. The IAPC General Body needs to approve the addendum.
Please click here to view the proposed addendum to the IAPC’s constitution and the basic details of the Academy of Palliative Medicine.
All members of the IAPC are requested to go through the proposed addendum as this matter will be taken up for discussions and approval during the IAPC’s AGBM scheduled to be held at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday, 10th February, 2024, at the conference venue, in Hall A, Auditorium, Ground floor, 1C, New GCRI building, Civil Hospital Campus, Asarwa, Ahmedabad, Gujarat.
The IAPC’s Election (2024)
A notification of election was called for the following posts:
- President, IAPC (2025 – 2028)
- Central Council Members (2024 – 2026)
- North Zone (2 members)
- North – East Zone (2 members)
- East Zone (2 members)
- South Zone (2 members)
- West Zone (1 vacancy for two years [2024 – 2026])
An election committee consisting of Dr Gayatri Palat and Dr Sukdev Nayak scrutinised the received nominations for validity. The valid nomination forms were then forwarded to the IAPC’s Central Council (CC) for further action.
The following are the accepted nominations.
- President: Dr Geeta Joshi
- South Zone: Dr Seema Rajesh Rao and Dr Praneeth Suvvari
- West Zone: Dr Raghu Thota
For the 2 positions for Central Council Members from the North Zone, we have received 4 nominations. They are Dr. Ayush Garg, Dr. Deepa Kerketta Khurana, Dr. Nishkarsh Gupta and Dr. Sarita Singh. Click here to view their CVs.
Elections for the above 2 positions will be held in-person (physically) at IAPCON 2024 on Saturday, 10th February, 2024, between 9:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m.
No nominations were received for the posts of CC members from North East Zone (2 members) and East Zone (2 members). These will be filled by nominations from the floor at the AGBM to be held at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday, 10th February, 2024.
Last reminder of call for Proposal: IAPCON 2026
The IAPC is inviting proposals to conduct the 33rd Annual International Conference of the Indian Association of Palliative Care (IAPCON 2026).
Those interested to organise the conference are requested to submit their expression of interest by emailing the proposal in the requested and prescribed format to the Secretary, IAPC, at iapcagbm@gmail.com before 5 p.m. on Saturday, 3rd February, 2024.
The conference venue for IAPCON 2026, will be decided in the IAPC’s Annual General Body Meeting held at Ahmedabad in February, 2024, on the basis of the proposals received by the Secretary.
The 32nd Annual International Conference of the Indian Association of Palliative Care (IAPCON 2025) will be held at Jammu, Jammu and Kashmir, and is being organised by the IAPC’s Jammu and Kashmir Chapter.
IAPCON 2024: Registrations invited for the ‘2.5 kms Walk for Palliative Care’
‘All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy!’, Well this is exactly what the conference organisers of IAPCON 2024 remembered while designing the ‘2.5 km walk for Palliative Care’ during the conference.
The walk organised by the Sanjeevani – Life Beyond Cancer and the Gujarat Cancer and Research Institute, is scheduled to begin at 6:30 a.m. on Sunday, 11th February, 2024. The walk is organised with an objective to raise awareness about palliative care among the general community. The walk will begin from B, Block River Front, Behind Vallabh Sada on Ashram Road, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, and go via the Atal Bridge and conclude again at the B, Block River Front (starting point).
All registered conference delegates are welcome to participate in the walk. Those interested to participate in the walk will need to however register separately (at no additional cost) by submitting their details in this form.
The 31st Annual International Conference of the Indian Association of Palliative Care (IAPCON 2024) is a 2.5 day in-person conference which will be held at the Auditorium, Gujarat Cancer and Research Institute, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, between Friday, 9th February, 2024, and Sunday, 11th February, 2024. The Pre-conference workshops are slated for Thursday, 8th February, 2024.
IAPCON 2024 is themed ‘Revisiting the domains of Palliative Care’, as it aims to enhance the delegates’ practise of palliative care by empowering them with the various aspects in Palliative Care for both cancer and non-cancer patients. Scientific Sessions therefore will include sessions on Oncology, Neurology, Cardiology, Respiratory Medicine, Nephrology, Geriatric Care etc. Sessions will also include the nursing care plans, role of psychologist, volunteers, NGOs in providing palliative care, along with presentations on research methodology and scientific paper presentations.
Please visit the conference website for further information and to register for IAPCON 2024.
Winners announced: IAPC’s ‘Pictures to Moments – Together for palliative care’
The IAPC is delighted to share that the top three photographs from the IAPC’s special initiative, ‘Pictures to Moments – Together for palliative care’ which received the maximum votes by way of public voting (on the IAPC’s website), have been identified.
We would like to congratulate Mr Mohankumar Thambad (Dharwad, Karnataka), Ms Rashmi Gupta (Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh), and Dr Suhana Sulfiker (New Delhi) for securing the first, second, and third place of the ‘People’s Choice Award’ respectively.
These three contributors will each receive a certificate of appreciation and also have their photograph displayed during IAPCON 2024.
A total of 46 photographs were received from 26 contributors via the ‘Pictures to Moments – Together for palliative care’ campaign, which was designed to provide insights into the experiences and perceptions of our contributors who through their photographs attempted to freeze time and capture the essence of life, beauty and emotions.
Please click here to view the complete set of photographs submitted via this campaign.
Report of the WHO SEARO on expanding availability and access to palliative care published
The Report of the WHO South-East Asia Regional workshop (SEARO) on expanding the availability and access to palliative care was held in Colombo, Sri Lanka, between Wednesday, 11th October, 2023, and Friday, 13th October 2023.
Please click here to read the complete report which summarizes the proceedings of the workshop and the outcomes in terms of key inputs and identified country plans, priorities and the stepwise approach to improving availability and access to palliative care.
Tune in at 2:50 p.m. on 14th February, 2024, for a multilingual edition of ‘Singing for the Stars’
The IAPC and the Shankar Mahadevan Academy Nirvana (SMA Nirvana) invite you to join us at 2:50 p.m. on Wednesday, 14th February, 2024, for a national multilingual edition of ‘Singing for the Stars’.
This edition of musical evening of harmonies is dedicated to our friends from across the country.
The evening of harmonies will be presented by Ms Narssimhan Kannan (A Vocalist and a Performing Artist).
Don’t forget to join us at 2:50 p.m. on 14th February, 2024.
Update from the January event
The January edition of ‘Singing for the Stars’ was held on Tuesday, 9th January, 2024.
The evening of harmonies for the month was presented by Mr Archana Kamath Hegdekar (Singer, Music Composer, and a Performing Artist) who sang popular numbers in Hindi, Marathi and Tamil. We apologise for the unforeseen internet fluctuations at the artist’s end which affected the program quality slightly.
Our guest singer, Ms Rajni Yarde (Cancer survivor, Pune) and Mr Patwardhan Patwa (Cancer Survivor, Jodhpur) also participated enthusiastically in the program.
Team IAPC and Team SMA Nirvana take this opportunity to extend our gratitude to all those who joined us and for spreading smiles during the show.
Leverage the IAPC’s Social Media to stay connected!
The IAPC is inviting each of you to join the IAPC’s Social Media community to network and stay connected with the palliative care community, from India and beyond!
To get started, Follow / Like us on:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/palliativecare.in
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/iapc-1994/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/iapcsecretary
The IAPC’s Careers page has been updated to reflect new vacancies from across the country
We invite you to visit the IAPC’s ‘View job vacancy’ page to view the recently updated vacancies in palliative care from across the country.
We request you to please also join us to improve the availability and access to palliative care by either sharing the details of vacancies at your center or by sharing the details of this platform with your colleagues to submit a vacancy from centers rendering palliative care services.
Call for Support: Your 2 minutes = Someone’s entire lifetime of Peace, Comfort and Dignity!
The IAPC requests you to spare just two minutes of your valuable time to submit / update the details of your palliative care services in the IAPC’s National Palliative Care Directory.
Steps to show your support:
- Please visit the IAPC’s National Palliative Care Directory and select the State from the drop down menu to check details of your center.
- If you need to add / update details of your center, then please visit the Submit/Update details of your PC center page on the IAPC website and submit the relevant details.
- After entering the relevant details, please click the ‘Submit’ button to record your responses.
Please do remember that your two minutes will make an invaluable difference in someone’s entire lifetime, as patients and caregivers, along with your colleagues will then have access to palliative care services when they need it the most!
Come on, donate your time to be a bridge in alleviating the suffering of our patients from across the country. Let no one be left behind!
Please click here for guidance on how to update your details.
‘Saath Saath Helpline’: India’s free palliative care helpline
Saath-Saath Helpline: 1800-202-7777, is the first of its kind National, Free-of-cost Palliative care helpline. The helpline offers non-judgmental listening services to palliative patients and their caregivers, or to a patient’s physician, and connects them to the nearest palliative care center.
The helpline has 26 partner organisations working across 17 States and Union territories viz; Maharashtra, Delhi, Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Orissa, Punjab, Haryana, Assam, Tamil Nadu, Goa, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Kashmir and West Bengal. Volunteers from Tata Memorial Hospital (TMH) and Cipla Palliative Care and Training Centre (CPC) attend the calls in four shifts to either provide information, offer Psycho-emotional support or to refer the caller to a partner organisation.
The helpline provides service through call-in on a phone line and works 6 days a week (Mon-Sat), 10 am to 6 pm.
You can offer your support by informing patients about this helpline and refer those who are in need of such services.