Tea break reading: African palliative care in the news

2^nd August – 8^th August 2014

News and views:

Editor’s pick:

Global: Cancer care for refugees – Along with other non-communicable diseases, cancer is now recognised as a major challenge for humanitarian health providers and for those who finance their programmes. The recent Policy Review of cancer treatment requests submitted to UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Exceptional Care Committees (ECC), by Paul Spiegel and colleagues, makes a valuable contribution to a sparse evidence base. The Lancet.
Africa: Applications now open for palliative care in Africa small grants programme – The African Palliative Care Association and the True Colours Trust have announced that they are now accepting applications for the palliative care development in Africa small grants programme. ehospice.
South Africa: DENOSA supports call for Palliative Care nurses to be given powers to prescribe morphine – The Democratic Nursing Organisation of South Africa (DENOSA) pledges its full support to the Alliance for Access to Palliative Care in its calls for the country’s nursing regulatory body, the South African Nursing Council (SANC), to provide rights to nurses in palliative care to prescribe morphine for patients who suffer unbearable pain especially in hospices and their homes. ehospice.

Elsewhere in the news:

Global: WHO to convene ethical review of experimental treatment for Ebola – The WHO will convene a panel of medical ethicists to explore the use of experimental treatment in the ongoing Ebola outbreak in West Africa. Currently there is no registered medicine or vaccine against the virus, but there are several experimental options under development. WHO.
Africa: AIDS conference delegates seek asylum in Australia – Some 25 delegates to an international AIDS conference held in Melbourne last month fear returning home and will seek asylum in Australia, refugee and welfare agencies said Monday. The New Vision and Pink News.
Africa: Obama and African leaders to discuss U.S. funding for HIV/AIDS – When African leaders arrive in Washington this week to meet with President Obama, one of the most politically sensitive issues expected to be discussed is the future of the U.S. commitment to global efforts to deal with HIV/AIDS. The Washington Post.
West Africa: Withdrawal of international medics exacerbating Ebola crisis – Liberia’s efforts to control deadly epidemic being hampered by local mistrust as two infected US health workers return home. The Guardian.
Nigeria: Ebola outbreak: doctor who treated Nigeria’s first victim contracts virus – Doctor was part of a team that attended to Liberian-American civil servant who collapsed on arrival at Lagos airport last month. The Guardian.
Nigeria: Nigeria wakes up to its AIDS threat – Nigeria’s HIV infection rate of 3.2 percent appears low in comparison to southern Africa’s, but with a population of 173 million, it translates into huge numbers – 3.4 million Nigerians lived with HIV in 2013. IPS News Agency.
Malawi: Legal practitioners in Malawi learn about palliative care – Malawi’s legal practitioners joined palliative care advocates and service providers to ensure greater patient access to palliative care across the whole of Malawi. Africa edition of ehospice.
Uganda: Fundraising appeal launched for Hospice Africa Uganda patient – A fundraising appeal has been launched for a Hospice Africa Uganda patient by Sara Robbins (volunteer doctor at Hospice Africa Uganda) to secure a new hip for the patient. ehospice.
Kenya: Deadline for abstract submission extended – Abstract submission deadline for the upcoming 4th Kenya National Palliative Care Conference has been extended to 15th August 2014. ehospice.

Research:

Global: Pancreatic cancer survival rates at standstill for four decades – Long-term survival from pancreatic cancer has failed to improve in 40 years – with the outlook remaining the lowest of the 21 most common cancers, according to new figures published by Cancer Research UK. Cancer Research UK.
Sub-Saharan Africa: Self-report measurement of pain & symptoms in palliative care patients: a comparison of verbal, visual and hand scoring methods in Sub-Saharan Africa – Despite a high incidence of life-limiting disease, there is a deficit of palliative care outcome evidence in sub-Saharan Africa. Providers of end of life care call for appropriate measurement tools. The objective is to compare four approaches to self-report pain and symptom measurement among African palliative care patients completing the African Palliative Care Association African Palliative Outcome Scale (APCA African POS). US National Library of Medicine.
South Africa: South African women living with HIV subtype C experience rapid CD4 cell loss – A third of women living with HIV subtype C have a fall in their CD4 count to below 350 cells/mm3within a year of seroconversion, investigators report in the online edition of Clinical Infectious Diseases. AIDSMap.

Jobs, awards and events:

Global: 2nd Paediatric Palliative Care Congress in Rome – An announcement has been made that both the Abstract and Early Bird Registration deadlines have been extended for the 2nd Paediatric Palliative Care Congress to take place from 19 – 21 November 2014 in Rome. Both these deadlines have been extended to 15 July 2014. ehospice.
Global: #HPMGlobal twitter chat. Join Jim Cleary on twitter at 3pm (East Africa Time) every Monday to discuss the latest global palliative care issues. Twitter
Global: World Congress of Psycho-Oncology – The congress, which will be based around the theme of ‘Integrating phsycho-oncology into mainstream cancer care; from research into action’, will bring together experts from around the world to discuss new perspectives in clinical care, new data from research, innovative educational programs, advocacy, organisational issues and cancer policies. It is to beheld in Lisbon, Portugal from 20 to 24 of October 2014. International edition of ehospice.
Africa: Find all the latest jobs in palliative care and related fields – Visit ehospice’s job site to see the latest jobs in palliative care. African edition of ehospice.
Uganda: World Palliative Care Day event – Soccer Gala – PCAU is hosting a Soccer Gala to mark the World Palliative Care Day Event. 08:00am – 14:00pm 11^th October 2014. PCAU.
South Africa: HPCA 2014 Conference – Who Cares? Improving patient outcomes – The conference will be held between the 15^th and 18^th September 2014 at the Lagood Beach Hotel in Cape Town. More details on the HPCA Conference Website.
Kenya: The 4th Kenya National Palliative Care Conference 2014 – Kenya Hospices and Palliative Care Association (KEHPCA) is delighted to announce the 4th National Palliative Care Conference scheduled to take place from 12th to 14th November 2014 at Laico Regency Hotel in Nairobi. KEHPCA.
Nigeria: 54th Society of Physiotherapy Annual Scientific Conference and General Meeting – the sub-theme for this year’s conference is ‘The Role of Physiotherapy in Palliative Care for Terminally ill Patients’. It will take place in Asaba, Delta State between the 20^th and 25^th October 2014. NSP.

Because you’ve read this far:

Global: It’s hard to better traditional hymns when it comes to remembering the dead – The stirring, lovely music of the church might be the Reformation’s lasting comfort to us, believers or not. The Guardian.

Finally if you have any news, views, research, jobs or events that you would like included in next week’s round up, contact us.