Worldwide Palliative Care Alliance wishes you Season’s Greetings and Happy New Year

We have seen many collaborative successes this year, particularly with the launch of ehospice, the inclusion of a palliative care indicator within the Global Monitoring Framework on NCDs and the discussions on palliative care at the World Lung Conference. These, alongside many others, are important steps on the ladder towards achieving universal access to palliative care for all those who need it.

At WPCA, we were delighted this year to welcome new board members Dr Emmanuel Luyirika, Yvonne Luxford and Dr Zipporah Ali. We also say goodbye and thanks to DrFaith Mwangi-Powell for her commitment and passion to palliative care as the Executive Director of APCA and a WPCA board member, although we look forward to working with her in her new role at the Open Society Foundations. We are pleased to welcome Nadya Kassam as Senior Communication Advisor until April 2013, Stephen Connor in his new position as Senior Fellow and Kate Jackson as the international editor of ehospice.

The year ahead sees multiple challenges but also many opportunities for the development of hospice and palliative care internationally. As the funding crisis and austerity measures continue, and with the closure of the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund, this is a time of great uncertainty for many hospice and palliative care services. However, the WPCA will continue to collaborate with others to integrate hospice and palliative care into global policies and programmes to mitigate these issues and to ensure quality care for those that need it. Working with our partners focussed on HIV, NCDs, TB, ageing and caregivers has never been more important.

And a final note of thanks. Firstly, to our funders, particularly the Open Society Foundations and the Diana, Princess of Wales, Memorial Fund for their support this year. Secondly, to our partners and allies working to strengthen hospice and palliative care internationally including Human Rights Watch, GAPRI, IAHPC, ICPCN and UICC. And last, but certainly not least, thanks to our pan-national and national members who have worked constantly throughout the year to improve the quality of life of people living with life-limiting conditions. 

We hope you enjoy reviewing just a small selection of our selected highlights of 2012.

Yours sincerely

David Praill and Cynthia Goh

Co-chairs of the Worldwide Palliative Care Alliance

• The Agreement of the Constitution of the national commission of palliative care in Guatemala published in the newspaper ‘Diario de Centro America’.

• The Morphine Manifesto is released on World Cancer Day calling on governments to make oral morphine available for all those that need it.

• The Life before Death documentary is launched in countries around the world highlighting the woeful lack of access to treatment of pain.

• The WHO, with the support of International Children’s Palliative Care Network, launch the WHO guidelines on the pharmacological treatment of persisting pain in children with medical illnesses.

• The ALCP congress takes place in Curitiba, Brazil. The WPCA holds a board meeting and delivers workshops at the conference on advocacy and fundraising as well as participating in the ICPCN advocacy workshop in Sao Paolo.

• On World Health Day, WHO calls for action to ensure palliative care for older people. 20 palliative care organisations issue a call for urgent action to improve palliative care for older people.

• The WPCA releases its position statement on ‘Euthanasia and Assisted Dying’

• Palliative care side event at the World Health Assembly is attended by over 100 people, mainly government representatives.

• WPCA participates in a key meeting at UNAIDS in Geneva reviewing the research by the Caregiver’s Action Network and UNAIDS on the role of caregivers in the response to HIV.

• Palliative care advocates join forces to highlight the need for palliative care at the International AIDS conference in Washington DC. A highlight of the conference is Zippy Ali from KEHPCA receive the Red Ribbon award.

• WPCA makes available national palliative care strategies and plans on its website

• Medical Council in India approve MD in palliative medicine

• The World Cancer Congress takes place in Montreal, Canada for the first time bringing a stream on palliative care
• United Nations Open Ended Working Group on Ageing includes submission calling on the rights of older people to access  palliative care

September 2012

• The Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton, make her first speech outside of the UK, at Hospis Malaysia highlighting how ‘with effective palliative care, lives can be transformed.’

• ehospice launches bringing news, views and inspiration on hospice and palliative care from around the world. The WPCA is delighted to manage the international edition. By the end of 2012, we will have published over 70 editions with approximately 3 new features and stories every day.

• World Hospice and Palliative Care Day takes place on October 12 2012 with the theme ‘Living to the end: Palliative Care for an ageing population”. Activities take place around the world.

• ESMO releases new data on global access and barriers to pain medication

• Palliative care is included with the non-communicable diseases global monitoring and evaluation framework providing a great opportunity for palliative care development for NCDS in the future and holding governments to account.

• The closing reception of the Diana Fund take places in London. The WPCA, along with our partners and members, thank the Fund for their support, enthusiasm and dedication to palliative care development over the years.

• The World Conference on Lung Health includes palliative care for the first time.

• The Paediatric funders meeting takes place in Rome bringing together funders and paediatric palliative care experts from around the world to focus attention on how to improve access and funding to children’s palliative care.

• The Prague Charter is launched calling for signatories to highlight palliative care as a human right and stop unnecessary pain and suffering.