Registration for palliative care conference opens

BUILDING on the successes of conferences held in Mumbai and Buenos Aires, the International Children’s Palliative Care Network (ICPCN) is hosting the 3rd ICPCN Conference in Durban from 30 May to 2 June at the Southern Sun Elangeni Hotel. Registration for the conference is still open and will close on Sunday, 20 May.

With an impressive line-up of international speakers, only the second international children’s palliative care conference to be held in the country, will facilitate the exchange of knowledge, innovative ideas, research and experiences in the field of children’s hospice and palliative care.

Themed “Inspiration, Innovation, Integration”, the event brings together local and international medical and health care and allied professionals who make up the inter-disciplinary team providing care for children with rare and complex, life-limiting and life-threatening conditions. Local conference partners include the Hospice Palliative Care Association of South Africa (HPCA), Palliative Treatment for Children in South Africa (PatchSA) and the Durban based charity, Umduduzi, Hospice Care for Children.

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A full day of pre-conference workshops on 30 May will include a workshop on the effective treatment of pain in children, led by Dr Satbir Jassal (MBE), chair and editor of the Association for Paediatric Palliative Medicine (APPM) Master Formulary.

The conference programme will include plenary and break-away sessions covering issues relevant to doctors, nurses, psychologists, researchers, counsellors, social workers, spiritual leaders, educators and therapists. Family members and those who volunteer within the field will also be catered for.

The conference will also host the very first showing of the acclaimed film Hippocratic: 18 Experiments in Gently Shaking the World featuring Dr MR Rajagopal who is a current Nobel Peace Prize nominee. This documentary is for all those interested in the power of the human spirit, human rights and social justice. It is essential viewing for anyone working in health care, medicine, nursing and public health.

Research published in 2013 and carried out by ICPCN in collaboration with UNICEF revealed that an estimated 801,155 babies, children and adolescents in South Africa have an illness or condition likely to shorten their lives, with 304,441 of these requiring specialised palliative care services, due to a terminal diagnosis. These conditions include but are not limited to genetic conditions, cancers, HIV and AIDs, kidney failure and diseases of the heart and lungs.

With very few children’s palliative care services presently operating in the country, the research further revealed that less than five per cent of these affected children can access appropriate palliative care services.

To register to attend the conference, visit: www.icpcnconference.org.

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