Deadline: January 20, 2012

Application are now being taken for the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) Early Career Research Grants.

• As many as TEN (10) grants available.
• Up to US$20,000 each.
• To support researchers in the early career stage of pain investigations.

Apply now to be considered for valuable funding that could help you with your research.

Who’s Eligible?

• Awards are available to IASP members
• conducting independent research within six (6) years of their final terminal degree.
• For complete award information, eligibility requirements, and application instructions, visit the IASP website…

If you have any questions, please contact IASP at: IASPdesk@iasp-pain.org

OK, the problem is visible now. What are we going to do about it?

We’ll be posting the latest films from the project on the blog as they are released. You can also follow DEATH on Facebook(!)

LIFE Before Death: Live Well, Die Better.

One in every ten people alive today will die in severe pain because the cheap medicine they need is derived from opium, perhaps the most controversial and controlled substance on Earth.

LIFE Before Death is a documentary project about the remarkable health professionals battling the sweeping epidemic of pain that threatens to condemn one in every ten of us to an agonizing and shameful death. Their tireless struggle pits them against unfeeling governments, dysfunctional bureaucracies, voracious corporations, over-zealous law enforcement agencies and, above all, the deep-seated attitudes of you and I.

Through the eyes of patients and their families we discover the inherent humanity that empowers the best of us to care for those beyond cure. We uncover hard truths about the torture occurring everyday in hospitals around the world but also of the immense hope that comes from those health care pioneers brave enough to accompany terminal patients on their inevitable journeys to gratifying end-of-life experiences filled with dignity, love and peace. This is a story of living well and dying better, making the most of every moment in our life before death.

Read more at www.LIFEbeforedeath.com

Watch these two powerful teasers of what you can expect from the 50-video series, which include scenes and interviews with Pallium India:

Please Sign the Declaration of Montréal

The International Association for Study of Pain (IASP) had organized a “Global Pain Summit” on 3 October 2010 at Montreal, Canada. The chairman of Pallium India was a member of its steering committee.

The summit had announced “The Montreal Declaration“, which has now been accepted by the IASP council. Essentially, the document declares access to pain relief as a human right, and spells out the components of that right.

You can view the declaration at the IASP website and sign the declaration either as an individual or on behalf of an organization.

Please support the cause by signing it.

It will take only a minute of your time!

Sir Michael Bond, chairman of the developing countries’ working group of IASP presented the award at the 13th World Congress on Pain in Montréal, Canada. The congress was attended by more than 6,500 delegates.

M'Michèle performs at the Congress Welcome Reception

Kathleen M. Foley, MD

The Global Palliative care community rejoices the decision of the International Association for Study of Pain (IASP) that its John D. Loeser Distinguished Lecture Award goes to Dr Kathleen Foley.

Dr Kathleen Foley is an attending neurologist in the Pain and Palliative Care Service at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City.

In IASP’s words,

the award recognizes work that gives new perspectives to understanding the experiences of pain and that opens the door to future reductions in suffering…

She is professor of Neurology, Neuroscience and Clinical Pharmacology at Weill Medical College of Cornell University, and holds the chair of the Society of the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in Pain Research. All that is how she is described in IASP’s newsletter. Let us provide our own six-word description of Kathy Foley:

She knows. She understands. She cares!

Congratulations, Kathy, and thank you for all that you are doing for this world.

Watch Dr Foley’s lecture “Pain and Palliative Care: What the Future Holds” given in 2008 at the UCSD Cancer Centre:

“Nationally recognized expert, Kathleen M. Foley, MD, talks about the assessment and treatment of pain in cancer patients, as well as developing policies for pain and palliative care worldwide.”