On International Day, UN chief calls for efforts to ‘fill world with happiness’
UN News Centre
Happiness for the entire human family is one of the main goals of the United Nations, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon declared, as the Organization kicked off its global celebrations marking the annual observance of the International Day of Happiness.
Scale up TB control initiatives to reach the missing one million cases
World Health Organization
Tuberculosis affects nearly three million people in WHO’s South-East Asia Region every year, of them nearly one million go undetected or untreated. On World TB Day, WHO calls upon countries to aggressively scale up efforts to find, treat and cure these missing cases to eliminate TB.
Eighty countries adopt call to action at first UN conference on dementia
UN News Centre
A two-day ministerial conference on dementia hosted by the United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) ended in Geneva with 80 countries calling for action to address “a tidal wave” of new cases of the disease projected to cost the world $1.2 trillion by 2050.
Caregivers may be focusing on ‘futile’ measures: Brown study
US – McKinghts
In a study published in a recent issue of the Journal of Palliative Medicine, Brown University researchers assert that caregivers ignorant of palliative care methods tend to exacerbate a dying nursing home patient’s distress when taking aggressive measures such as feeding tubes. Those caregivers who understand palliative care, meanwhile, tend to take far fewer aggressive life-saving steps.
Do we need to end the ‘war’ on cancer?
UK – The Guardian
Fight cancer. Beat cancer. Stand up to cancer. Aggressive militant language pervades discourse on the illness. Yet it is questionable whether there is a health benefit in conceiving of cancer as a monolithic enemy. Not only has the military motif not led to a cure for the disease, but it may actually be detrimental to our health.
Physician-assisted suicide: Con
US – The Day
The Judiciary Committee of the Legislature of the State of Connecticut is considering a bill that would legalize physician-assisted suicide in Connecticut. The bill has been termed “Act Concerning Compassionate Aid in Dying for Terminally Ill Patients.” It is, in fact, neither compassionate, nor of aid, to those who are most vulnerable within our society.
Palliative Care for Advanced Dementia Patients
Hong Kong – UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific
In feeding advanced dementia patients, The Chinese University of Hong Kong proposes using approaches such as hand feeding, which the authors link to palliative care, instead of the common tube feeding in order to reduce the suffering of older persons with swallowing problems.
Kara Tippetts, who wrote an open letter to Brittany Maynard, has died
US – Washington Post
A Christian author and blogger with terminal cancer who tried to persuade Brittany Maynard to reconsider her November decision to die through doctor-assisted suicide, has died.
Family of dying woman push for wider hospice care
Canada – Calgary Herald
For almost a month, Dwyer has been a patient of Rosedale Hospice, one of the city’s eight centres that provide end-of-life care. She says having a nurturing community has helped her accept her looming death, and make the most of her last days.
Chile – Mail Online
A 14-year-old Chilean girl who asked the government for permission to die has begun reconsidering her decision.
UK – Daily Echo
A charity worker is celebrating a milestone birthday by doing 40 challenges to raise £40,000 for a hospice- all before she turns 40.
Leave a Reply