Announcements / Messages from IAPC

IAPCON 2024: Registrations open; Submit proposals to conduct pre-conference workshops before 31st May, 2023

We are very excited to share that the 31st Annual International Conference of the Indian Association of Palliative Care (IAPCON 2024) is taking shape under the able guidance of Dr Geeta Joshi (Organising Chair), Dr Priti Sanghavi (Organising Secretary) and Dr Bhavna Patel (Scientific Committee Chair).

The in-person conference is scheduled to be held at the Auditorium, Gujarat Cancer and Research Institute, Ahmedabad, between Friday, 9th February, 2024, and Sunday, 11th February, 2024. The Pre-conference workshops have been scheduled for Thursday, 8th February, 2024. 

Conference organisers share that the theme of IAPCON 2024 is ‘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. 

The conference organisers share, “We promise to deliver to you a rich academic feast with renowned faculty in Palliative care delivering their very best. This event will serve as a knowledge-based platform as it will present sessions by experts and renowned speakers for every member of the Palliative care fraternity.” 

Register before Monday, 31st July, 2023, to avail the early bird registration offer. 

Dr Dinesh Kumar (Pre-conference Chair) invites proposals to conduct pre conference workshops during IAPCON 2024. These proposals are to be emailed to iapcon2024workshops@gmail.com before Wednesday, 31st May, 2023. The proposal to be prepared as per the below format. 

  1. Theme of the Workshop
  2. Short justification for the choice of the topic (100 words)
  3. Sub-Topics
  4. Key Learning Objectives
  5. Target Audience 
  6. Faculty (Name, Designation, Place of work, Mobile & Email ID)
  7. Duration of Workshop
  8. Anticipated participants’ numbers
  9. Technical assistance required

Don’t forget to submit proposals before Wednesday, 31st May, 2023, to conduct pre-conference workshops. 

Please visit the conference website for further information and to register for IAPCON 2024.


The IAPC’s Delhi State Chapter inaugurated with success and grandeur on 15th April, 2023

We are delighted to share that the IAPC’s Delhi State Chapter had a formal inauguration ceremony on Saturday, 15th April, 2023, at the Dr Ramalingaswami Board Room, AIIMS, New Delhi.

The ceremony was conducted in the presence of Dr Sushma Bhatnagar (President, IAPC), Dr Gowri Nambiar Sengupta (Deputy Director General, Public Health, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India), Dr Seema Mishra (Organising Secretary for the event), Dr Sachidanand Jee Bharati (Joint Secretary for the event) along with the participation of over 100 delegates and well wishers.

An interesting panel discussion on ‘Various Palliative Care delivery models, their challenges and possible solutions’ was organised on the occasion. 13 expert professionals from leading government medical colleges, private sector hospitals and NGO’s offered support by joining the webinar as panellists.

Dr Sachidanand J Bharati and Dr Rakesh Garg, the enthusiastic quiz masters conducted a riveting quiz for the Junior and Senior Residents in Palliative Medicine from across the city, after the panel discussion.

The CME concluded successfully with the dignitaries, the faculty members and the delegates highlighting the positive impact of Palliative Medicine in rendering quality care for their chronically / terminally ill patients, along with a pledge to make palliative medicine a much sought after specialty in the years to come.


The WHPCA launches the Universal Health Coverage Advocacy Guide; Join their webinar on 17th May, 2023

The Worldwide Hospice Palliative Care Alliance (WHPCA) launched the Universal Health Coverage (UHC) Advocacy Guide in April 2023.

The UHC advocacy guide aims to provides a framework to support advocacy to facilitate policymakers at national, regional, or local levels making a robust and meaningful commitment to palliative care (PC) as part of their commitment to Universal Health Coverage (UHC) and sets out evidence that can be used for this advocacy process. It is designed to be adaptable to your own context and to provide guidance on supporting documents that you may want to access to further your cause.

Please click here for further information about the UHC advocacy guide and to access the same.

Additionally, the WHPCA is also hosting a one hour webinar on using this guide on Wednesday, 17th May, 2023 at 6:30 p.m. (IST). Please click here to register for the webinar.


Follow / Like us on the IAPC’s Social Media to stay connected!

The IAPC invites you to Follow / Like the IAPC’s Social Media pages to leverage the power of social media 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


Join us for the IAPC and SMA Nirvana’s National multilingual edition of ‘Singing for the Stars’ at 3:50 p.m. on 10th May, 2023

The IAPC and the Shankar Mahadevan Academy Nirvana (SMA Nirvana) invite you to join us at 3:50 p.m. on Wednesday, 10th May, 2023, 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 Himangi Vishwaroop (Singer, Performing artist, Music Composer and a Music educator). Ms Himangi will be presenting songs in Hindi and Marathi.

Don’t forget to join us at 3:50 p.m. on 10th May, 2023.

Update from the April event

The IAPC and the SMA Nirvana team presented a special regional edition dedicated to our friends from Maharashtra and Goa. This edition of ‘Singing for the Stars’ was presented by Ms Kshitija Joshi (Vocalist, Performing Artist, Music composer, Music Educator) and Ms Shuddhi Sandip Kadam (Vocalist, Performing Artist) on Tuesday, 11th April, 2023, at 3:50 p.m. Songs were presented in Marathi, Konkani, Hindi and English.

We congratulate and thank our guest singers (in alphabetical order) Ms Rajni Yarde (Cancer survivor, Jaipur) and Ms Sapna Kale (Manager, Awareness & Advocacy, Snehanchal, Nagpur) for their enthusiastic participation in this program.

Please click here to watch a recording of this session.


Head over to the IAPC’s Careers page to view the 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:

  1. Please visit the IAPC’s National Palliative Care Directory and select the State from the drop down menu to check details of your center.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.