From the President’s Desk
Hello Friends,
I am pleased to inform you that abstract submissions are now open for the 31st Annual International Conference of the Indian Association of Palliative Care (IAPCON 2024), which will be held in February 2024, in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. The organising committee of IAPCON 2024, invites researchers to submit abstracts of their work in palliative care for presentation to the global palliative care fraternity before Thursday, 30th November, 2023. Please also note that the last date to avail the early bird registration rates to participate in the conference has been further extended to Friday, 15th September, 2023. Further information about this is available in the ‘Announcements and Messages from IAPC’ section of this newsletter.
Earlier this month, the IAPC undertook a unique initiative, ‘Pictures to Moments – Together for palliative care’ to celebrate World Photography Day. The response was wonderful as 26 contributors submitted 47 photographs in the initiative. I congratulate each of the contributors for their enthusiastic participation. Don’t forget to vote for your favourite photograph and help identify the winners of the ‘People’s Choice Award’.
On behalf of the IAPC, I would like to share that applications are now open for the ‘IAPC’S Certificate Course in Palliative Care Pharmacy’. Registrations are invited until Wednesday, 20th September, 2023. I request you to please head over to the ‘Education and Training’ section of this newsletter for further information on this. In this segment, we have also tried to compile and present to you, reports of training programs organised by various palliative care institutions spread across the country. Applications are also invited for several upcoming programs. My heartfelt congratulations to all for their untiring efforts towards these capacity building activities. I invite you to read the ‘Education and Training’ section of this newsletter, to know more about these programs.
Through the Exclusive Article’s Section of the IAPC’s newsletter this month, we wish to draw your attention towards a very important topic, ‘Provisioning of palliative care during humanitarian crisis’.
We are privileged to present to you two articles, one international article from the war-ravaged Ukraine, and the other right from our own Country, Manipur. We are grateful to our authors for accepting our invitation and for sharing their experiences right from the epicentre of an ongoing humanitarian crises situation.
- ‘Palliative care during humanitarian crisis: An inside view from Ukraine’, Dr Olena Riga (Ukraine) and Ms Joan Marston (South Africa)
- ‘Moment of hope during the humanitarian crisis in Manipur’, Dr Nandan Choudhary, Imphal, Manipur
Along with these articles, we also bring to you two inspiring articles from a palliative care physician and a palliative care nurse.
- ‘The Healing Power of Presence: A simple act of sitting beside a patient’, Dr Kamalakar, Hyderabad
- ‘My journey in Palliative Care’, Ms Nileema Sharad Shingade, New Delhi
I extend by warm congratulations to each of our Authors and for their contribution to the IAPC.
The ‘IAPC’s Infographic of the month’ for September 2023, continues to focus on the ‘General Myths of Palliative Care (Part 2). I invite you to read the Infographic published this month; we hope you enjoy it. Please feel free to share these infographics within your networks.
As some would say, ‘Save the best for the last’ I extend my warmest Congratulations and best wishes to my colleagues for their various accomplishments and recognitions in the field of palliative care. Each of their contribution is so encouraging for the rest of us. Please visit the ‘Awards and Recognitions’ section of this newsletter for further information and to get inspired.
Best wishes!
Dr. Sushma Bhatnagar
President, IAPC