Hamrahi – APLI & Pallium India Joint Project
Hamrahi means fellow-traveler. Well, that is exactly what a group of Australian doctors plan to do – travel with us on the difficult journey that many of our patients have to go through.
Project Hamrahi is a collaborative venture between Pallium India and Australia Palliative Link International (APLI). (Thank you Dr Nirmala, for finding such an appropriate name for the project!)
The concept took birth at Perth, during the joint conference of Asia Pacific Hospice Network (APHN) and Palliative Care Australia (PCA).
Dr Odette Spruyt (a friend of Indian Palliative Care) from Peter MacCallum Cancer Center in Melbourne had given a talk based on her Indian experience, and several Australian doctors came forward to help. Discussions between Dr Odette Spruyt and Pallium India gave clarity to the idea.
Project Hamrahi is designed to fill a certain need. As it stands now, doctors and nurses get trained in palliative care for six weeks. Once they go back to their home towns, they are on their own to fight a thousand barriers, with negligible support.
Project Hamrahi envisages continued mentoring by one expert – hopefully matching one expert with one palliative care program on a long term basis.
In preparation for the project, a preliminary workshop has already been held in Melbourne.
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