The 31st Annual International Conference of the Indian Association of Palliative Care (IAPCON 2024) concluded successfully on Sunday, 11th February, 2024. IAPCON 2024 was an in-person conference organised by the Department of Palliative Medicine, Gujarat Cancer and Research Institute (GCRI), Ahmedabad, Gujarat.
The conference was conducted successfully under the able guidance of Dr Geeta Joshi (Organising Chair), Dr Priti Sanghavi (Organising Secretary), Dr Bhavna Patel (Scientific Committee Chair) and Dr Dinesh Kumar (Workshop Committee Chair).
The main conference was held for 2.5 days between Friday, 9th February, 2024, and Sunday, 11th February, 2024. The Pre-conference workshops were conducted on Thursday, 8th February, 2024.
The conference was themed ‘Revisiting the domains of Palliative Care’, as it aimed to enhance the delegates’ practice of palliative care by empowering them with the various aspects in Palliative Care for both cancer and non-cancer patients. Scientific Sessions included sessions on Oncology, Neurology, Cardiology, Respiratory Medicine, Nephrology, Geriatric Care etc. Sessions also included the nursing care plans, role of psychologist, volunteers, NGOs in providing palliative care, along with presentations on research methodology and scientific paper presentations.
Below are the highlights from the conference.
Pre conference workshops:
183 delegates participated in the 6 in-person pre conference workshops
Conference:
438 delegates came together to participate in IAPCON 2024 to mutually exchange knowledge and share best practices.
The conference was inaugurated by Shri Dhananjay Dwivedi (Principal Secretary, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of Gujarat), Dr Sushma Bhatnagar (President, IAPC), Dr Shashank Pandya (Director, GCRI), Dr Suresh Reddy (Indo-American Cancer Association), Shri Kshitish Madanmohan (General Secretary, GCS), Dr Geeta Joshi (Organising Chair, IAPCON 2024) and Dr Priti Sanghavi (Secretary, IAPCON 2024).
The Cancer Aid Society Awards, the Bruce Davis Award and the MT Bhatia Award was presented, and the book ‘Guidelines for Home-based palliative care and Out-Patient palliative care teams’ by Can Support was released during the inaugural ceremony.
The IAPC’s Annual General Body Meeting (AGBM) was held on Saturday, 10th February, 2024.
Winning team of the Quiz competition was represented by the following Post Graduate Residents in Palliative Medicine:
- Dr Aakash Hinduja (3rd year resident, Basavatarakam Indo-American Cancer Hospital and Research Institute, Hyderabad)
- Dr Pratyasa Padhi (Senior Resident, IMS and SUM Hospital, Bhubaneshwar)
- Dr Suhana Sulfiker (3rd year resident, AIIMS, New Delhi)
33 creative posters were submitted by 27 delegates for the Creative Poster Competition, ‘From Mind to Masterpiece: Turn your ideas into Creative Posters!’. The winners were:
- First place: Mr Sameer Cuncolkar (Psychologist, Helpage NGO, Goa)
- Second place: Dr Prasun P (Assistant Professor and in-charge, Palliative Medicine, ACTREC – TMC, Mumbai)
- Third place: Mrs Vincy Sophia S (Senior Nursing Officer, JIPMER, Puducherry)
The IAPC had announced the IAPC’s Award for the 3 best poster presentations and 3 best oral presentations. Each awardee received a cash prize and a certificate. The cash prize for the 1st place is INR 25,000/; for the 2nd place is Rs INR 15,000/-; and for the 3rd place is INR 10,000/-
62 oral papers were submitted. Winners as follows:
- First place: Ms Shubha Pai (Psychologist, Basavatarakam Indo-American Cancer hospital, Hyderabad)
- Second place: Dr Priya Treesa Thomas (Social Worker, Additional Professor, NIMHANS, Bengaluru)
- Third place: Dr Pratyasa Padhi (Senior Resident, IMS and SUM Hospital, Bhubaneshwar)
82 posters were presented during IAPCON 2024. Winners as follows:
- First place: Dr Joris Gielen (Director, Center for Health Care Ethics, Pittsburgh, USA)
- Second place: Dr Anuja Damani (Associate Professor, Department of Palliative Medicine and Supportive Care, Kasturba Medical College and Hospital, Manipal)
- Third place: Dr Richa Randhawa (2nd year resident, Mahatma Gandhi Medical College and Hospital, Jaipur)
The ‘Dr M T Bhatia Award for best poster presentation for Nurses’ is an award instituted by Dr M T Bhatia and presented by the IAPC’s Gujarat Chapter. Qualified nurses (GNM, BSc, MSc) who are working in Palliative Care settings and who are life members of the IAPC were eligible to receive the award, provided they presented their best original research work (via a poster presentation) for palliative care during IAPCON 2024. Mr Athar Javeth (Assistant Professor, AIIMS Kalyani, West Bengal) was the winner of this award and received a cash prize of INR 10,000/- and a Certificate.
About 1,500 individuals participated in the ‘2.5 km walk for Palliative Care’ organised jointly by Sanjeevani – Life Beyond Cance and GCRI on Sunday, 11th February, 2024. The walk was successful in raising awareness about palliative care among the general community.
The Valedictory function was held on Sunday, 11th February, 2024. Dr Sushma Bhatnagar (President, IAPC), Dr Savita Butola (Secretary, IAPC), Dr M R Rajagopal (Chairman Emeritus, Pallium India), Dr M T Bhatia (Former Professor and Head, Department of Anesthesia and Pain Clinic, GCRI) and members of the Organising team of IAPCON 2024 were invited on the dias to conduct the valedictory ceremony and present awards from the various competitions.
Please click here to view the complete conference report submitted by the organising committee of IAPCON 2024.
Please visit the gallery in the conference website to view a few images from the conference.
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