From the President’s Desk
Dear friends,
As we begin a new year, I extend my warm greetings to each of you and your families. I sincerely thank you for your sustained commitment and dedicated efforts throughout 2025 toward advancing palliative care across our country. As we step into January, it gives me immense joy to share important developments within the Indian Association of Palliative Care.
Over the past year, IAPC has taken initiatives to improve all of its educational programs. This process has included bringing in new leadership and faculty, systematically updating the curricula, and adding new topics that are relevant to current clinical realities, evidence, and policy directions. The goal of these efforts is to improve academic rigor, improve learning experience, and ensure relevance across diverse care settings. We want you to get involved in our academic programs and help the palliative care movement grow in India.
A significant milestone in this journey is the introduction of the Certificate Course in Palliative Care for Nursing Faculty. The primary aim of this course is to empower nursing educators with core palliative care knowledge, teaching skills, so that they can integrate palliative care principles into nursing education and practice. Through this course we seek to improve their understanding of symptom management, communication, ethics, and psychosocial care, and to build a network of trained nursing faculty who can be institutional and regional leaders in palliative care education.
Preparations for IAPCON 2026 are progressing with great enthusiasm and careful planning. The scientific and organizing teams are working towards a vibrant conference, along with engaging pre-conference workshops tailored to different professional groups. Innovative elements such as the Shark Tank initiative are being planned to encourage new ideas, showcase innovation, and support emerging leaders in palliative care. We look forward to sharing more details in the coming months and to welcoming you all to an enriching academic experience.
We are also pleased to share updates regarding the IAHPC grants, which continue to support participation in IAPCON. These opportunities are particularly valuable for early career professionals and teams working in resource constrained settings, and we encourage eligible members to apply and benefit from them. Click here for more details.
IAPC is proud to serve as the academic partner for GERIPALCON 2026, Chennai being organised by RMD Speciality Hospitals. This collaboration reflects our shared commitment to strengthening geriatric and palliative care through interdisciplinary learning, research, and policy engagement, and it aligns closely with the evolving demographic and care needs of our population.
As we move forward, I extend my heartfelt festival greetings to you and your families. May the year ahead bring good health, professional fulfillment, and renewed purpose in our collective mission to relieve suffering and improve quality of life.
With warm regards,
Dr. Geeta Joshi
President
Indian Association of Palliative Care (IAPC)