18th International Conference of Indian Association of Palliative Care-2011

18th International Conference of Indian Association of Palliative Care-2011

hosted by Cancer Aid Society at Lucknow - India

Pre Conference Workshop was organized on 10th Feb. 2011, Thursday at Chhatrapati Shahuji Maharaj Medical University, Lucknow and was inaugurated by Prof. Chooramani Gopal Vice Chancellor CSMMU. Two parallel sessions were conducted; “Research and Publication is the Key of Networking” coordinated by Dr. Sushma Bhatnagar at White Hall and “Communications Skills” coordinated by Dr. Rajashree Suresh at Brown Hall. This Workshop was attended by 150 Participants and facilitated by Dr. Jaishree Bogra.

In the afternoon a press conference was organized.

On 11th Feb. 2011 Friday, the 1^st day of Conference at ‘Shruti Auditorium’ SGPGIMS Scientific session started with a traditional Saraswati Vandana followed by Free Paper presentations and subsequent Scientific Programs were conducted simultaneously in Two Halls. 6 sessions were conducted by 16 Foreign and Indian Experts.

Students of Kendriya Vidyalaya SGPGIMS Campus prepared posters and slogans on Palliative care and took out a rally carrying the same at 11:30 am. Delegates attending the conference witnessed the rally and appreciated the efforts of students in spreading the message on Palliative Care.

The Conference was formally inaugurated by Honorable Mr. MK Gupta IAS, Excise Commissioner of Uttar Pradesh who offered full support of his Department towards availability of Oral Morphine. Colorful joyous cultural program was presented by 200 Students of Ryan International School of Shahjahanpur & Raebareilly. There was a Kathak ballet “Rani Jhansi ki Amar Kahani” presented by the Girls of Rashtriya Kathak Sansthan, Lucknow. Awards were presented to the American Cancer Society USA, Mr. Deepak Agarwal STO UP State Excise Department, Dr. MR Rajagopal Chairman Pallium India, Dr. Shushma Bhatnagar Head Anesthesia, Pain & Palliative Care IRCH AlIMS Delhi, Dr. Anil Agarwal Prof. Anesthesiology SGPGIMS Lucknow and Principals of Ryan International Schools Ms. Sonika Sharma and Mr. R D’ Souza coming from Shahjanpur and Raebareilly.

Day two of the conference was filled with lots of activities at the SGPGIMS Shruti Auditorium. 4 sessions were conducted which were Chaired by 9 Foreign and Indian Experts and 14 faculties conducted the sessions as per the attached Programme.

Eminent speakers during the conference from abroad were Dr. Mhoira Leng UK, Dr. Michael Minton and Dr. Jeremy Johnson from UK, Dr. Bert from Belgium, Dr. Max Watson Ireland, Dr. Meera Agar Australia, Dr. Katrina Beaden & Dr. Cynthia from Singapore.

In the afternoon a rally was organized by Helpage India, Palliative Care Partnership UK and Cancer Aid Society taken out by Auto Drivers at Charbagh putting up Banners and Stickers saying Freedom from Pain; Say yes to Palliative Care. It was coordinated by Mr. AK Singh of Helpage India and Mr. Nicholas of Palliative Care Partnership UK.

Experienced Professionals from different parts of India viz Dr. Rajagopal Trivandrum, Dr. Suresh Kumar, Dr. Anil Paleri Calicut, Dr. Sukhdev Nayak Cuttak, Dr. Nagesh Simha Bangalore, Dr. BK Mohanti from AIIMS Delhi enlightened the Delegates on the various subjects related with palliative care.

During the annual general meeting Dr. DP Gupta President of Cancer Aid Society announced  One Lac Annual Award for substantial contribution towards Palliative Care by an Organisation and Mr. Piyush Gupta pressed for the Palliative Care Declaration which would help in effective networking of all the stake holders and help us in defining the common targets, it was later finalized and adopted.   Dr. Shushma Bhatnagar Chairperson of the Scientific Committee informed the audience about the Indian Journal of Palliative Care in the capacity of its editor.

In the evening Dr. Suresh Reddy from Jiv Daya Foundation USA informed about their organizations initiative in funding the Indian Organisations on Palliative Care. He emphasized on the National Cancer Registry which is lacking right now.

The dinner was filled up with an aura of enjoyment as the delegates sang and danced depicting the cultures of different parts of the Country. Prizes were awarded to Dr Michael Minton UK, Shreya Gupta & Evian in Dance Category, Elisa Ed Dubland from Canada, Uma from Kerala and Smita from Lucknow got prizes in Dancing.

On the closing day of the conference 5 sessions were conducted on Pain and Opioid Dependence, Pediatric Palliative Care, Total Pain Management, Spirituality and Palliative Care, Introduction to Palliative Care in Non Cancer Diseases and Moving towards a National Policy on Palliative Care covered by various faculties.

A Debate on, Pro: “Euthanasia is humane Care in face of suffering”. Con: Euthanasia is ethically unacceptable in a Civilized Society”. First Prize went to Dr. Joris Gielen  of Belgium & Dr. R Dowla, Second Prize went to Dr. Prakash Choudhary  & Dr. Poonam Bagai of Delhi. Euthanasia also known as Mercy Killing to be executed after the consent  of the patient and when the patient is in Coma by his Family. 

Prizes of  Poster Presentations were as follows   I - Ms. Meena Kumari of Kerala, II - Dr. Sangeeta Singh & Dr. Sonali Kulkarni of Pune, III - Dr. Shoba Nair & Mrs. Madhura Bhatwadekar.

Prizes for best Paper presentations went to I - Ms. Shyni M  of Kerala & Dr. Gaurav Prakash of Delhi, II -Dr. Mhoira Leng of UK & Ms. Anokha Susan Roy of Delhi, III - Dr. Ambika Rajvanshi of Delhi.

In the Closing Ceremony Secretary of Indian Association of Palliative Care Dr. Anil Paleri read the Palliative Care Declaration which shall guide and give directions to the Networking Partners and congratulated the Cancer Aid Society for organizing a successful Conference.

He announced that the next year’s conference shall be organized at Kolkata.

Related developments:

·         Lucknow Declaration 2011 on Palliative Care was finalized and adapted by the General Body of the Indian Association of Palliative Care.

·         Introduction of palliative care in Medical Curriculum was a long pending demand of Palliative Care Community across India, on the eve of the Conference Medical Council of India introduced MD course in Palliative Care. Further the Chairman MCI in his message for the Conference suggested us “to come out with practicable strategies, which could be affected by the Council in coming times, so that optimal results are generated and used to train Graduates and Post Graduates in Palliative Care in a much better way”.

·         The Topic of Debate held on 12^th February 2011 during the Conference was Pro – “Euthanasia is humane care in face of suffering” Con – “Euthanasia is ethically unacceptable in a Civilized Society”. In March Honorable Supreme Court of India through its Judgment, Legalises Passive Euthanasia – Times of India dated 8^th March, 2011. Needless to mention that we had send Invitations for participation and literatures to the Heads of the Judiciary, Government and Autonomous Bodies.