With a population of 55 million children, there are just two doctors trained in children’s palliative care in the whole of Bangladesh. Additionally, most children in severe pain at the end of life are being prescribed paracetamol. Access to morphine remains a challenge in most centres.
The International Children’s Palliative Care Network (ICPCN) estimates that 2 million children could benefit from generalised palliative care and 29 000 from specialised end-of-life care in Bangladesh each year. However, not even 1% have access to these services.
Working closely with Drs Megan Doherty and Zohora Jameela Khan, the only two doctors in Bangladesh trained in children’s palliative care, the ICPCN wishes to support the provision of a three-day workshop on key principles of children’s palliative care and continued mentoring to 20 doctors and 10 nurses in the city of Chittagong. This training and mentoring has the potential to relieve the unnecessary suffering and vastly improve the quality of life of at least 1,200 children in this city alone.
To raise the necessary funds for this vital project, ICPCN was chosen to take part in the latest Global Giving Gateway Crowdfunding Challenge. A challenge where a limited number of charities compete to raise a minimum of £2500 from 50 unique donors. The winning charity, with the highest amount raised by the most number of unique donors, will receive an additional £1500 from Global Giving with £1000 for 2nd and £500 for 3rd places.
ICPCN hopes that with your help, they can not only WIN this challenge, but also provide ongoing training and support in children’s palliative care for doctors and nurses all over Bangladesh, ensuring a better quality of life and a comfortable death for thousands of children.
ICPCN’s Chief Executive, Joan Marston has issued a call to action to all ICPCN members, friends, supporters and their networks:
“We talk about the challenges of providing children’s palliative care and can at times feel overwhelmed by the enormous task of meeting the needs of the 21 million children globally who would benefit from this approach. This is your chance to donate as little as £7 (US$10) and by so doing, you will be a part of the solution.
Please help us to bring children’s palliative care to Bangladesh!”
Visit the Global Giving website to learn more and donate.
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