International Association for Hospice and Palliative Care

International Association for Hospice and Palliative Care Toward a world free from serious health-related suffering.

IAHPC is a global non-profit, membership organization dedicated to the development and advancement of palliative care to assure that any patient’s and family caregiver’s suffering is relieved to the greatest extent possible. IAHPC works with UN agencies, governments, associations and individuals, to develop and implement appropriate policies for the inclusion of palliative care as a component of U

niversal Health Coverage; increase access to essential medicines for palliative care; foster opportunities in palliative care education, research and training; and increase service provision around the globe.

Do you know what core components are needed for palliative care provision?The availability of the components of these pa...
05/27/2026

Do you know what core components are needed for palliative care provision?

The availability of the components of these packages can help palliative care providers advance toward the relief of serious health-related suffering.

See more 👉 https://l.iahpc.org/wos?f

IAHPC delegate to Dr Serena Cruz Global Surgery Umbrella gives statement on Agenda Item re Health in the Occupied Terr...
05/23/2026

IAHPC delegate to Dr Serena Cruz Global Surgery Umbrella gives statement on Agenda Item re Health in the Occupied Territories stressing need for . "The palliative care emergency in the occupied Palestinian territory remains largely invisible to the world and the Assembly. Patients with serious health related suffering and life-threatening illness —trauma, organ failure, cancer and other non-communicable disease — are dying in preventable suffering . Essential palliative medicines including morphine are absent or inaccessible to treat severe pain. What medical personnel remain provide palliative and end-of-life care under conditions that violate every principle of human dignity. IAHPC urges Member States: To facilitate safe and rational emergency access to essential palliative carer-medicines in the occupied territory; fund training of palliative care integration into all field hospital and humanitarian health programs in Gaza and the West Bank; and protect medical personnel that provide all health services including pain relief, psychological, and spiritual support, and symptom management. Relieving preventable suffering is not a luxury. It is a legal and moral obligation."

IAHPC delegate to Dr Sherin Susan Paul N gives statement on Global Action Plan for AMR and essential palliative care. ...
05/23/2026

IAHPC delegate to Dr Sherin Susan Paul N gives statement on Global Action Plan for AMR and essential palliative care. "Antimicrobial resistance disproportionately strikes the poorest and most vulnerable - those already living with life-limiting illness, chronic disease, and crisis. When antimicrobials fail, people do not simply die faster. They die harder - in pain, without dignity. AMR and the absence of palliative care are twin drivers of preventable suffering, and both these issues are complicated by access challenges. Access to appropriate and effective antimicrobials is a key facet of palliative care services. The updated Global Action Plan must recognise this connection."
We urge member states to:
• Place patient needs and access to quality-assured health services at the centre of any strategic planning on AMR
• Develop clear guidelines on antimicrobial use for indications associated with palliative care
• Ensure that when cure fails, essential medicines for pain and symptom relief are available
• Train health care workers who manage infections in basic palliative care.
AMR strategies must ensure that when medicines can no longer cure, people are not abandoned to suffer. Since palliative care practitioners work with a subset of patients who are more likely to develop infections and die of it, it is essential to include organizations working on palliative care in AMR programmes and strategies.

Chaplain Richard Bauer gives International Association for Hospice and Palliative Care constituency statement at on th...
05/22/2026

Chaplain Richard Bauer gives International Association for Hospice and Palliative Care constituency statement at on the Emergency, Critical, and Operative Strategy endorsed by the Worldwide Hospice Palliative Care Alliance, HelpAge International, Union for International Cancer Control, World Council of Churches, International Federation on Ageing, and Women in Global Health. " Equitable ECO initiatives, particularly in humanitarian crises, witness to health systems characterized by continuity of care rather than fragmentation and abandonment. ECO functions best when it incorporates community-based health workers and volunteers who know their own settings, customs, and cultural preferences. ECO perioperative care begins with and is accountable to communities and spans the continuum from prevention to palliative care. ECO tackles high-burden disease in low-resource settings—trauma, sepsis, obstetric complications, NCD emergencies, and respiratory illnesses. Including local and national professional organizations, CSOs, faith-based organizations and indigenous communities, can ensure that marginalized populations are not sidelined. These populations include
• Older persons with chronic diseases, including cancer, heart disease, organ failure, and dementia
• Persons with mental and physical disabilities, surgical disease, and traumatic injuries
• Newborns and children with severe health complications
• Persons deprived of liberty
• Refugees and migrants

Without appropriate treatment and palliative care, these individuals may endure severe pain, untreated symptoms, psychological distress, and undignified deaths.

We recommend
• Aligning ECO with existing national policies and strategies
• contextualizing rather than just standardizing systems of caring
• focusing on quality holistic health and care services across the life course that includes patients and their families
• training for improved communication, teamwork, and technical skills as well as care that is person-centred and culturally and spiritually relevant
• Embedding anesthesiologists, pain specialists, and palliative care practitioners in national ECO planning and governance.

Dr Elizabeth Persad gives International Association for Hospice and Palliative Care intervention at on agenda item 1...
05/22/2026

Dr Elizabeth Persad gives International Association for Hospice and Palliative Care intervention at on agenda item 12.5 primary care workforce "Training doctors, nurses and pharmacists to staff local primary care health centres could ease the suffering of patients who otherwise must travel to urban centers to fill prescriptions. Primary palliative care staff can reduce the physical and financial suffering associated with serious medical illness. Our primary care system still lacks some essential palliative care medications. When morphine is unavailable, patients suffer at home. When it is available, it is still unaffordable for those lacking the means to travel to the hospital for refills. Model List medicines we do have, like laxatives, dexamethasone, slow release and oral morphine, often run out. Gabapentin is unaffordable and amitriptyline often contraindicated. Primary health centers need palliative care trained pharmacists, nurses, and physicians to relieve patient suffering."

The groundwork for palliative care has been laid in Indonesia; implementation is next.See more 👉🏻 https://l.iahpc.org/ra...
05/18/2026

The groundwork for palliative care has been laid in Indonesia; implementation is next.

See more 👉🏻 https://l.iahpc.org/ra3?f

The International Association for Hospice and Palliative Care Association delegation to in Geneva includes Richard Bau...
05/17/2026

The International Association for Hospice and Palliative Care Association delegation to in Geneva includes Richard Bauer, BCC, M.Div., MSW, Sherin Susan Paul N, Dr. Serena Cruz, Gracia Violeta Ross and Dr Elizabeth Persad, Pediatric PC physician in Trinidad & Tobago! Some of them already in Geneva ! Read the statements we will give on the floor of the World Health Assembly on our advocacy webpage https://iahpc.org/what-we-do/advocacy/initiatives/

Lessons in Longevity: A Q&A with Argentina's palliative care dynamo, Dr. Roberto WenkSee more 👉🏻 https://l.iahpc.org/py2...
05/15/2026

Lessons in Longevity: A Q&A with Argentina's palliative care dynamo, Dr. Roberto Wenk

See more 👉🏻 https://l.iahpc.org/py2?f

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