Over 45 doctors, nurses and healthcare professionals came together at the Smile Centre in Gjakove, Kosova for two days to learn about bowel and colon cancer.
Smile International is a charitable organisation working in Kosova, Romania, Macedonia and Albania, five countries in Africa, as well as India and Sri Lanka. The organisation began providing end of life care in Kosova in 2011 and has been running courses for healthcare professionals for five years.
This latest course focused on bowel and colon cancer, but previous courses have covered lung cancer, cervical cancer, developments in palliative care and the multidisciplinary approach to palliative care.
Courses are taught by medical professionals from the UK and Albania, with support and first-hand examples from the local Smile palliative care team.
In what is seen as a big step forward in the development of palliative care in the country, the Ministry of Health has now accredited Smile International’s training course, which is worth 10 points for delegates and 15 points for speakers as part of their in-service training credits.
In another sign of progress, the Ministry of Health has also granted authorisation for the charity to bring in much-needed pain relief medication and other drugs, donated from other countries.
Clive Doubleday, Smile International CEO, said: “We are delighted with the two significant developments that we have seen during the week of our 6th palliative care training course.
“We will now build on this success to see palliative care work develop and more doctors and nurses trained and access provided to pain relief medication provided by the Kosovan Ministry of Health. All these achievements come after many years of promoting palliative care in Kosova where many families and individuals will be helped with end of life care for many years to come.”
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