From the President’s Desk
Hello Friends,
It is heartwarming to share that India celebrated this year’s World Hospice and Palliative Care Day (WHPCD) with enthusiasm and creativity. Walkathons, reel making competitions, street plays, dance recitals, etc. and many such events were organised by palliative care units / centers from across the country to celebrate the observance. The IAPC had invited palliative care service providers to share details from their celebrations for publication on the IAPC’s National Portal. Please click here and read all about these celebrations.
The IAPC also commemorated this year’s WHPCD by putting together a special initiative, ‘Unveiling the Unseen: Spotlighting the Heroes Behind the Scenes!’, to spotlight and unveil the unsung heroes and the backbones of several Palliative Care teams who work silently and tirelessly behind the scenes. I congratulate each of these heroes for their support and contribution towards palliative care! Please click here to celebrate and cheer for these ‘Heroes behind the scenes’!
The IAPC’s Infographic for November 2023, focuses on the concept of ‘Total Pain’. Please click here to view the Infographic. I request you to share and circulate this infographic within your networks.
Please note that that the IAPC is now inviting nominations for the IAPC’s office bearers (2024). Nominations are invited for the post of President, IAPC, and for the IAPC’s Central Council. IAPC’s members are requested to please head over to the ‘Announcements / Messages from IAPC’ section of this newsletter for further information about this.
I am excited to share the launch of a new training program, the ‘Compassionate Leadership Fellowship’, offered jointly by the Cairdeas International Palliative Care Trust, Believers Church Medical College Hospital, Global Health Academy (University of Edinburgh), the Indian Association of Palliative Care, and the RMD Trust. The year-long (February 2024 – 2025) advanced leadership program is designed to inspire, empower, influence, and transform future leaders in palliative care. Please visit the ‘Education and Training’ section of this newsletter for further details about this program.
The IAPC is also inviting applications for the IAPC’s ‘Certificate Course in the Physiotherapy – Palliative Care interface’ and for the IAPC’s ‘Certificate course in managing psychosocial issues of patients with chronic illnesses in Palliative Care settings‘. Both these popular training programs are scheduled to be conducted in December 2023.
Applications are also invited for several other training programs organised by various institutions from across the country. Please visit the ‘Education and Training’ section of the newsletter for the same. The section also includes updates from a few educational and advocacy related activities from across the country. It is so delightful to be able to witness the growth of palliative care through all these activities.
I extend my warmest congratulations to all those institutions who have been recognised for their contributions, and to those who have begun new initiatives or have surpassed important milestones. Please visit the ‘Awards and Recognition’ section of the newsletter to celebrate these achievements.
The ‘IAPC’s exclusive articles’ for this month features thought provoking articles contributed by authors from India and abroad. I thank each of the contributors for their support. I invite you to read the publications from this month:
- ‘Intersection and role of Palliative Care in caring for older persons’, by Dr Pooja Dutta, New Delhi, in acknowledgement of International Day of Older Persons (1st October)
- ‘How Palliative Care and Disaster Risk Reduction reinforce each other’ by Mr Harsh Vardhan Sahni, Washington DC, USA, in observance of International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction (13th October)
- ‘Hoping for the best!’, Palliative Care Nurse, India
I am excited to share that preparations are underway for the 31st Annual International Conference of the Indian Association of Palliative Care (IAPCON). I invite you to register for the IAPCON 2024’s creative poster competition, ‘From Mind to Masterpiece: Turn your ideas into Creative Posters!’. Please visit the ‘Announcements / Messages from IAPC’ section of this newsletter for further information on this.
I would like to leave you with a short update about the October edition of ‘Singing for the Stars’. Mr Ashwin Prabhu (Vocalist and Performing Artist) presented us with a magical evening of harmonies as he kept us grooving to popular numbers from Hindi and Tamil. On behalf of the IAPC, I extend our sincere gratitude to Mr Ashwin Prabhu and to Team SMA Nirvana for their support and commitment towards this initiative. I would like to also congratulate our guest singer, Ms Rajni Yarde (Cancer survivor, Pune) for her enthusiastic participation.
With warm regards,
Dr. Sushma Bhatnagar
President, IAPC