The meeting of the Executive Board of the World Health Organization will take place on 20-25 January, in preparation for the World Health Assembly on 19-24 May. Both events are key to palliative care advocacy at this high level and palliative care organizations will be working together to ensure that they build on the successes of last year.
2013 saw palliative care included by the WHO as part of the definition of Universal Health Care, and a palliative care indicator was accepted into the Global Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of Non-Communicable Diseases. Tireless advocacy work ensured that palliative care would be on the meeting agenda for this year’s Executive Board meeting and the subsequent World Health Assembly.
Key objectives for this year are to ensure that the World Health Organization report on palliative care is received by the Executive Board, that a stand alone resolution on palliative care is approved by the Executive Board for action at the World Health Assembly (and that the resolution has measurable outcomes including that the Director General reports back on progress by 2016), to hold a successful palliative care side event at the World Health Assembly, and to successfully launch the Global Atlas of Palliative Care at the End-of-Life.
The Global Atlas of Palliative Care at the End-of-Life is a joint WHO/WPCA publication that aims to paint a picture of hospice and palliative care worldwide, including the need for palliative care, the availability of palliative care, resources for palliative care, the barriers to palliative care development, examples of model palliative care programs, and recommendations for advancing palliative care globally. The Atlas will be launched on 20 January, the first day of the WHO Executive Board Meeting.
The International Children’s Palliative Care Network (ICPCN) will hold the first ever international conference on children’s palliative care. Join network members and affiliated professionals and volunteers in Mumbai, India as they make sure that we don’t forget the children when we talk about palliative care. Find out more on the ICPCN website.
The Indian Association of Palliative Care will hold its annual conference from 14-16 February in Cuttack, Odisha. The theme of the conference will be: Evidence-based palliative medicine. Find out more online.
The 7th Latin American Congress on Palliative Care, organised by the Latin American Association of Palliative Care [ALCP] and the Colombian Palliative Care Association, will run from 12-15 March in Medellin, Colombia. To find out more, contact the Latin American Association of Palliative Care or visit the Association website.
The European Association of Palliative Care will hold its 8th World Research Congress in Lleida, Spain from 5-7 June 2014. The deadline for early bird registration is 1 March 2014. At the last congress in Trondheim in 2012, 1172 participants from 49 countries attended and a record of 678 abstracts were submitted. Find out more about the congress and register online.
The 20th International Congress on Palliative Care will be hosted by the Palliative Care Department of McGill University in Montreal, Canada. The conference will run from 9-12 September. It is the longest-running international meeting on palliative care and will bring together pioneers, practitioners, patients and students to discuss palliative care and hospice work. The deadline for submission of abstracts is 17 January. Find out more on the conference website.
World Hospice and Palliative Care Day (WHPCDay) is held every year on 12 October. Hospice and palliative care services from around the global are invited to mark the day by organising an event in their town, city or country. Last year’s theme was: Achieving Universal Coverage of Palliative Care: Dispelling the myths. The theme for this year will deal with staffing for palliative care. Further details will be announced on ehospice in the coming months. Find out more about WHPCDay on the World Hospice and Palliative Care Day website.
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