INSIGHTS – 2023 Q3
Welcome back to INSIGHTS our third quarter update for this year. The reach of our programs is widening in both scope and ambition as you will see from our news below.
But most importantly with this newsletter... A huge thank you to all who donated and everyone who supported our Be 1 in a 1000 fundraising campaign.
We really appreciate your generosity and a heartfelt thank you to those who reached out to their family and friends asking them to ’Join us‘ for this fundraising campaign.
Join us virtually at London Global Cancer Week 2023
Join Two Worlds Cancer Collaboration team volunteers at LGCW 2023 for a virtual panel discussion – ’Oral cancer screening and early detection in lesser-resourced countries – a pilot project‘. The panel includes Drs. Simon Sutcliffe and Puneet Bains, and principal investigator Denise Laronde and Sandra Broughton with colleagues from South Asia.
Please register here for the November 14 webinar and to learn more about LGCW 2023.
TWCC shares the stage at MetaECHO
Photo UNM/Ray Mares Photography
In September, Dr. Megan Doherty, TWCC director and lead of our Sunflower Children‘s Network, joined Drs. M.R. Rajagopal (India) and Max Watson (Ireland) on stage at the MetaECHO 2023 conference in New Mexico, highlighting the global reach of our online education programs.
In 2017, TWCC‘s train-the-trainer approach changed dramatically. We launched our online education programs using the Project ECHO model of healthcare education developed by the University of New Mexico to rapidly disseminate the latest developments in health care. The reach of our palliative care training has since expanded across South Asia and to the Philippines. Today, our online education reaches 1000s of healthcare providers each year and is internationally recognized for its high standard.
Hyderabad Centre for Palliative Care – A leader in palliative care training
Hyderabad Centre for Palliative Care (HCPC) is seen throughout South and Southeast Asia as a leader in healthcare provider training – providing online and clinical education not only to palliative care providers in India but throughout the region.
HCPC nursing leader Swarup Immaraju, who undertook clinical mentorships sponsored by TWCC at Canuck Place Children‘s Hospice (Canada) and Victoria Hospice (Canada) in 2019, recently trained hospice nurses in Assam, India. And he will oversee training of 10 nurses from that state in Hyderabad during a five-month collaboration. It‘s palliative care providers such as Swarup who, through your support of TWCC, have taken lead roles as trainers and advocates for palliative care in their home regions.
HCPC will also provide training and mentorship to a team of social workers from the Philippines who will train in Hyderabad alongside the team there, building on the relationship between HCPCP and the National Children‘s Hospital in Quezon City, Philippines.
Palliative care access improving in Andhra Pradesh, India
Through the support of an anonymous donor, TWCC in partnership with HCPC has provided support for the Palliative Care Unit at Kurnool Government Hospital and Medical College in Andhra Pradesh. Building on this donor‘s generosity and the groundwork from the team there, Kurnool‘s new cancer hospital will have a palliative care unit funded fully by the state government.
Hospice care in Andhra Pradesh (AP) is also expanding using the successful model of the district hospice program in Telangana known as Palliative Seva Kendra. Recently the PSK in Puttaparthi, AP has doubled in capacity now providing 10 beds for hospice care.
The reach of our Sunflower Children's Network widens
The Sunflower Children‘s Network has launched new training programs with partners in Sri Lanka and Bhutan.
TWCC has maintained partnerships with palliative care providers in Sri Lanka since 2017, but this is our first involvement in children‘s care in the country. In early September, our network launched the first online Project ECHO training collaborating with the HCPC, Sri Lanka College of Paediatricians, Sri Lanka Medical Association, Sri Lanka College of Oncologists, Lady Ridgeway Hospital for Children, and the National Cancer Institute Maharagama.
Our Network has also launched the first online training program for pediatric palliative care in Bhutan in partnership with HCPC and Jigme Dorji Wangchuck National Referral Hospital, in Thimpu. This Project ECHO program brings together faculty from Bhutan, India, Canada, and the United States providing pediatric palliative care training and strengthening the connections between these healthcare professionals providing mentoring and support both during the course and in the future.
Our volunteers are the heart of our organization
Check out our Q&A with TWCC volunteer Dr. Natasha Datoo. Dr. Datoo is a pediatric hematologist-oncologist and palliative care specialist. She works at both BC Children‘s Hospital and Canuck Place Children‘s Hospice in Vancouver, Canada.
Also listen to her conversation on The Sunflower – Palliative Care Podcasts with guest host Camara van Breemen, TWCC director and a nurse practitioner at Canuck Place Children‘s Hospice.
Photo: Chuck Russell/ Two Worlds Cancer
Visit us on social media
To learn more about our programs and the regions where we partner visit our social media – We are on Instagram, Facebook, Linkedin and X (formerly Twitter). And watch the News section of our website as we introduce more of our volunteers with our ongoing Q&As during the next weeks.
As always, we are humbled by your support. On behalf of our many Canadian and international volunteers, our partner organizations, and the patients they care for – thank you.
Sincerely,
Dr. Simon Sutcliffe
President, Two Worlds Cancer Collaboration