Published on: June 29, 2012

The Pain & Policy Studies Group (PPSG) / World Health Organization Collaborating Center has announced the selection of ten Fellows for its Cohort III International Pain Policy Fellowship (IPPF) program.

Built on the success of the previous two cohorts of this program in 2006 and 2008, LIVESTRONG (Lance Armstrong Foundation) and the Open Society Foundations (OSF) International Palliative Care Initiative are providing major funding to support these Fellows for a two-year project.

The purpose of the Fellowship is to assist low and middle income countries to improve patient access to pain medicines recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) for pain of cancer, HIV/AIDS and other diseases. United Nations bodies, including the WHO and the International Narcotics Control Board, have expressed concern about the low consumption of controlled pain medicines in the world, especially in developing countries.

Fellows will train with the PPSG and other international experts in Madison, Wisconsin, USA during the week of 6-10 August 2012. They will develop action plans to improve opioid availability that they will implement during the next two years. Many Fellows will be accompanied to Madison by a government representative, demonstrating valuable high-level commitment to support efforts to improve opioid availability for pain management in their respective country.

This 2012 class involves ten Fellows from six countries, with a regional focus on South Asia (7) and Eastern Europe / Central Asia (3). The ten selected Fellows are:

  • Natalia Datsiuk, MPH – UKRAINE 
  • Rumana Dowla, MBBS, MPH, DipPallMed – BANGLADESH 
  • Kristo Huta, MD, PhD – ALBANIA 
  • Nadarajah Jeyakumaran, MD – SRI LANKA 
  • Farzana Khan, MBBS, MPH – BANGLADESH 
  • Priyadarshini Kulkarni, MD – INDIA 
  • Suraj Perera, MD – SRI LANKA 
  • Taalaigul Sabyrbekova, MD, PhD – KYRGYZSTAN 
  • Shalini Vallabhan, PhD – INDIA 
  • Nandini Vallath, MD – INDIA 

Congratulations to all the Fellows!

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