"It was Christ’s humble birth that set the stage. It was the first lesson in a series: to oppress others is to oppress Christ, to hate others is to hate Christ, and to love your enemies can be the most dangerous and revolutionary act of them all." www.nytimes.com/2025/12/21/o...

.@pontifex Leo supports ecumenical #palliativecare “Finland has been described as “a model country for ecumenism (...) I know that the bishops of Helsinki (...) have jointly affirmed that “the development of palliative and end-of-life care must continue.” www.vatican.va/content/leo-...

“Civil society and States have a responsibility to respond concretely to situations of vulnerability, offering solutions to human suffering, such as palliative care, and promoting policies of authentic solidarity, rather than encouraging deceptive forms of compassion, such as euthanasia.” Pope Leo

Pope Leo:”Civil society & States also have a responsibility to respond concretely to situations of vulnerability, offering solutions to human suffering, such as palliative care, and promoting policies of authentic solidarity, rather than encouraging deceptive forms of compassion such as euthanasia.”

Incarnation means that “Solidarity becomes the criterion of all human relationships, calling us to strive for justice & peace, to care for the most fragile, and to defend the weak. God has become flesh; therefore, there is no authentic worship of God without care for humanity.” #palliativecare

Tools for pandemic preparedness sometimes overlook humanitarian settings, where conflict and fragile governance negate traditional preparedness tools. To determine outbreak readiness, local and national capacity should be assessed together.

An Advent Message: UHC Day 2025, Handel’s Messiah, and IAHPC’s work towards a world free from health-related suffering Today is UHC Day, 2025. The world aspires to fairness when the UN agencies proclaim that access to affordable preventive, promotive, curative, rehabilitative, and palliative care…

Palliative lions This week's Advent visions of the Kingdom, where lions lie down with lambs and eat straw, call to mind our vision of universal palliative care that supports all people suffering with serious illnesses, disabilities, and challenging end of life journeys. The fact that prophets such…

Calling for a pall-literacy campaign on World Day of the Poor Pope Leo’s Message on 9th World Day of the Poor claimed that “the poor are not recipients of our pastoral care, but creative subjects who challenge us to find novel ways of living out the Gospel today. In the face of new forms of…

A Prison Hospice Program for the Living and the Dying www.nytimes.com/2025/11/06/u...

Albanian nurse leader Irena Laska, IAHPC delegate to #RC75 @WHO Europe, delivers our statement on #palliativecare inclusion in 2nd European Programme of Work today! Read it here:https://iahpc.org/uploads/2025/10/IAHPC-Statement-on-palliative-care-re-RC75-European-Program-of-Work.pdf

What does meaningful support look like for caregivers of people living with dementia? Join us next Thursday October 30th at 2pm CET for a free webinar hosted by the @IAHPC to explore how WHO's iSupport prorgramme can support caregivers throughout their care journey. Register: lnkd.in/eFJYtPXB

Dr Yukio Nakatani @who.int opening session of CND Thematic Session calls for "safe access to controlled medicines limited in many parts of the world." Says drug control must be rooted in public health & access to controlled meds shld be integrated into national policies supported by whole of govt!

INCB President Professor Atasoy calls out persistent disparities in availability of controlled medicines due to inaccurate estimates of medical needs by member states.Promotes Learning Programme to improve availability for #palliativecare #painrelief #SUD treatment. CND Thematic Session 2025.

Lazarus and the rich man: why palliative care advocacy is so challenging! Today's gospel about Lazarus and the rich man (Luke 16:19-31) pinpoints why palliative care advocacy is so challenging. The rich man, oblivious to Lazarus languishing on his doorstep, didn’t experience compassion until he…

“A quiet revolution in care-giving is emerging – rooted in compassion, driven by dignity. In a place often associated with suffering, this initiative is sowing seeds of healing, presence, and human connection. www.thetablet.co.uk/features/bor...

Important event at the Commission on Narcotic Drugs October 3. Register for online participation

“Loneliness also imperils the health of the body politic…in The Origins of Totalitarianism, Hannah Arendt characterizes loneliness as “the experience of not belonging to the world at all.” …loneliness leaves us vulnerable to totalitarian power www.commonwealmagazine.org/virtues-soli...

www.americamagazine.org/short-take/2... walking the talk.

Feast of St Camillus de Lellis founder of “The Clerks Regular of Good Death, Ministers to the Sick,” commonly known as the Camillians. Patron saint of the sick, nurses & hospice workers, Revolutionized 16th century nursing, founded the first Red Cross, sent nurses to battleflields in Hungary!

North America & Western and HIC's have high levels of opioid availability 4 medical use >10,000 S-DDDs per million inhabitants in 2023. Average 1,329 SDDDs per million inhabitants in SE Europe; low of 7.1 S-DDDs per million inhabitants in West & Central Africa in 2023. www.unodc.org/documents/da...

"availability of pharmaceutical opioids for pain management & palliative care continues to vary considerably between LMICs & HICs. Availability in low- and middle-income countries has been increasing, but the gap between them and high-income countries remains massive.” www.unodc.org/documents/da...

“Policymakers adhere to a narrative that conflicts with the data.” CDC data reveals no connection between amount of opioids prescribed and rates of nonmedical use or addiction. People who misuse opioids aren't the same as patients who rely on them for real pain. reason.com/2025/07/01/t...

Hungary banned Pride marches. This is the response ✊🏳️‍🌈

“No person of good will can remain silent,”Archbishop Broglio, bishop’s conference president, said in an opening reflection that was made public for churches, to reach immigrant families.Count on the commitment of all of us to stand with you in this challenging hour.” www.nytimes.com/2025/06/29/u...

“In the United States during World War II,the murder of the Jews of Europe demonstrated the extent of our capacity to look away when faced with a demanding responsibility.In the end,the Allies won one war—but chose not to oppose the Nazis war against the Jews. www.americamagazine.org/politics-soc...

We agree... though what about palliative care? 🤔 People *also* rightly expect a comfortable, dignified death. But right now, too many are dying in avoidable pain, in poverty and alone - because services are underfunded & overstretched. ❗ This has to change. #SpendingReview

Excellent analysis of an issue that has serious consequences for policy and practice. www.bmj.com/content/389/...

111,000 people die in poverty each year in the UK. This is unacceptable. Early access to the state pension for people with a terminal illness will give people the financial security they need. It’s good to see Communities Minister Gordon Lyons back our call. 👏

Join me at San Diego: No Kings Rally & March action.womensmarch.com/events/san-d...

Read all about it! Palliative care advocacy at the World Health assembly and beyond ! iahpc.org/what-we-do/i...

The need for better Palliative Care in nursing homes is significant. So how do we achieve that? And what are the obstacles? We talk with guests Connie Cole, Kathleen Unroe, and Cari Levy. #medsky   bit.ly/GeriPalEp359 - hosts @alexsmithmd.bsky.social | @ewidera.bsky.social

Magnificat of the visitation: palliative care as mission. Mary's soul magnifies the Lord when she visits Elizabeth, an older woman who finds herself pregnant, also following the message of an Angel, although in her case the message was delivered to Zechariah her husband. When the as yet-to-be-born…

Ascension Thursday: being in heaven by loving now! "We cannot be in heaven, as he is on earth, by divinity, but in him we can be there by love." St. Augustine, Sermon on the Ascension. St Augstine reminds us that Jesus is with us still, on earth, after his resurrection, and that we, while on earth…

Proposal for an interfaith palliative care advocacy coalition katherinepettusconsulting.wordpress.com/2025/05/28/a...

An interfaith policy pallium for all The etymological relationship between the pallium presented at the Pope’s inauguration last week and advocacy for universal availability of palliative care (a clinical practice that shares the Latin root pallium or ‘cloak.’)[1]gestures towards the potential…

Controlled medicines such as pain relievers and sedatives are essential for managing and treating numerous health conditions. Yet, millions of people in need can’t access them. 🔗 WHO's new guideline to support urgent, safe & rational access to life-improving controlled medicines: bit.ly/4ktyVBV

[email protected] .@IAHPC delegate @docAntonio #WHA78 @PallChase gave constituency statement on @WHO emergencies work for @WHPCA @UICC @HelpAge @IFA @WorldSIOP @IASPpain "Health emergencies,whether pandemics,conflicts,or natural disaster disproportionately affect..Read more tinyurl.com/tt83f6ct

Very important International Association for Hospice and Palliative Care (IAHPC) sponsored side event at the World Health Assembly next week! Please send to your national delegations or permanent missions in Geneva and encourage them to attend!

❌🗨️ Five years is too long to wait to assess palliative and end of life care services should the assisted dying bill pass. Tomorrow MPs on the assisted dying bill committee will debate an amendment tabled by Daniel Francis MP and Marie Curie. 👇 www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article...

Very cool!! www.nytimes.com/2025/05/08/u...

Policymakers, like Doubting Thomas and doctors who only know how to treat disease — who have not seen or touched the nail marks or the gaping holes in dying peoples’ psychological spiritual “sides” — won’t believe in palliative care until they touch those wounds for themselves tinyurl.com/3zahx492

The @iahpc.org mourns the passing of Pope Francis, a great #palliativecare champion whose spirit of closeness to those who suffer will continue to inspire our work in the years to come. www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news...

Advocacy chalked up another titanic win with the inclusion of the words “palliative care” in the historic WHO Pandemic Agreement, approved by WHO member states on April 17. tinyurl.com/5f9k5eru

A trend to keep an eye on as advocates seek to expand global #palliativecare availability. Patients and families are the intended beneficiaries, not corporate shareholders. speakingofmedicine.plos.org/2025/04/11/h...

Dreadful, shameful, no words really. How civil society can respond is the ultimate test of this generation’s humanity.