From the President’s Desk
Dear Friends,
In this June 2023 edition of Newsletter, the IAPC proudly presents to you a unique and interesting collection of ‘Reflections of people working in Palliative Care’. This short collection aims to encapsulate the heart and soul of dedicated individuals, who have embarked on a journey to provide compassionate palliative care to their patients and their families. I am sure that each of you will enjoy this brilliant collection of stories, which are rich in experiences and full of insights. I invite each of you to read and enjoy this special collection. My warmest congratulations to all the authors!
I am also excited to announce the launch of yet another initiative in this edition of the newsletter; the “IAPC’s Infographic of the month”. The first of this infographic series focuses on celebrating and recognising our dearest palliative care nurses. I extend my gratitude to Dr Wasimul Hoda for conceiving this brilliant initiative. Please visit the ‘Announcements / Messages from IAPC’ section of this newsletter for further information on this.
In line with our endeavour to promote palliative care education across the country, the IAPC has undertaken two other important activities to spread the knowledge of palliative care and to help our patients from across the country. Firstly, the IAPC has recently signed an MoU with the Indian Association of Preventive and Social Medicine (IAPSM) to build the capacity of professionals practicing preventive and social medicine from across the country to provide primary palliative care in the community. Secondly, the Academy of Palliative Medicine, a recently instituted body of the IAPC, in association with the National Board of Education in Medical Sciences (NBEMS) is rolling out a series of 11 lectures on the basics of palliative medicine from April 2023 for residents of DNB Medical Oncology.
Along with these new initiatives, many institutions from across India have organised training programs in palliative care for multidisciplinary teams. Unique and interesting topics in palliative care were discussed in detail during the IAPC Academy Lecture series, last month. We thank our speakers and the moderators for delivering exceptionally brilliant presentations on these difficult topics. I invite you to read further about all these academic programs in the ‘Education and Training’ section of this newsletter. Recording of these lectures will be available from IAPC website shortly.
It is always proud to see and celebrate our colleagues and institutions working in the field of palliative care receive awards and achieve new heights in their arduous journey. Congratulations to all! I invite you to read details in the ‘Awards and Recognitions’ section of this newsletter.
From the international arena, we would like to share a few very important announcements. The World Hospice and Palliative Care Alliance has announced this year’s logo for World Hospice and Palliative Care Day! The International Children’s Palliative Care Network has also announced that the ‘Hats on for Children’s Palliative Care’ campaign for this year will be observed on 13th October, 2023. I urge you to read the details in the ‘Announcements / Messages from IAPC’ section of this newsletter. Let’s start our preparation to make these celebrations and campaigns a huge success.
On behalf of the IAPC and the Shankar Mahadevan Academy Nirvana, I invite you to join the upcoming edition of our free musical concert ‘Singing for the Stars’, scheduled for 14th June, 2023 at 3:50 p.m. I request all institutions to make arrangements for their patients and caregivers to tune-in and enjoy this musical feast. Once again, our sincere gratitude to SMA Nirvana for their constant support in presenting this program for our ‘real stars’.
Most importantly, I would like to bring to your attention that the last date to submit proposals to conduct pre conference workshops during the 31stAnnual International Conference of the Indian Association of Palliative Care (IAPCON 2024) has been extended to 30th June, 2023. Those interested to submit proposals to conduct pre conference workshops during IAPCON 2024 are requested to email the same to iapcon2024workshops@gmail.com in the pre-specified template before 30th June, 2023. Further details available in the ‘Announcements / Messages from IAPC’ section of this newsletter.
Take care.
Dr. Sushma Bhatnagar
President, IAPC