Global Partners in Care

08/07/2026

08/06/2026

"Freedom from pain therefore means far more than prescribing medicines. It means restoring dignity, preserving relationships, ensuring that no one has to suffer alone."

This month, our colleagues at Pallium India put out the editorial: "The Freedom We Must Claim Next." In it, they describe how the pain of palliative care patients can stem from more than the physical body and includes worrying about loved ones, loss of livelihood, and more. For palliative care to address total pain, it must work holistically to address all areas of preventable suffering in a person's life. By broadening our understanding of freedom to include relief from preventable suffering, we can work to ensure all are able to maintain their quality of life.

To read more about their strategy to expand freedom from preventable suffering, visit: https://palliumindia.org/2026/07/the-freedom-we-must-claim-next

07/30/2026

Thank you to our colleagues at Asia Pacific Hospice Palliative Care Network for their thoughtful engagement and collaboration at the 2026 EAPC World Congress!

The EAPC World Congress in Prague brought together nearly 2,000 participants from 76 countries for two days of learning, exchange and connection.

07/30/2026

Today is . As part of our work, we aim to cultivate the future palliative care leaders of tomorrow by engaging student interns. We work with students at different levels and with different backgrounds to support our work and that of our partners through both office and field internships.

This year, we were excited to welcome Austin Marchand, a student at University of Notre Dame, to the team! This summer, he has worked virtually with Palliative Care Association of Uganda and in-person with Sunflower Children's Hospice in Bloemfontein, South Africa.

His internship was experiential learning based with a focus on supporting the pediatric palliative care work of our partners. With other students, we have supported them through formal academic research, program evaluations, toolkit development, communications support, and more. All of our internships are collaborative with the aim of advancing the work of palliative care across the globe.

07/23/2026

We are excited to welcome Ethan Harned to the Global Partners in Care (GPIC) team as our new program coordinator.

Ethan previously worked with us and our partners as an intern while studying at University of Notre Dame. Since then, he worked as a Fulbright-Nehru Fellow with The Fulbright Program to conduct pediatric palliative care and public health research in India, gaining valuable experience in collaborative research and supporting partnerships.

Ethan's passion, skillset, and innovative approach are a wonderful asset to our team. We are excited to welcome him back to GPIC to support our programs and partners!

07/17/2026

On June 18th, 2026, the ICPCN - International Children's Palliative Care Network launched a new global campaign ‘Close the Gap: Palliative Care for Children, Everywhere.' Millions of children around the world continue to experience preventable suffering because they lack access to high-quality palliative care. The Close the Gap campaign is calling for urgent, coordinated action to ensure equitable access to children’s palliative care for all children, everywhere.

Our Executive Director, Lacey Ahern, presented on the facilitation at the World Health Organization (WHO) Working Group meeting that co-produced much of the campaign's messaging. As Global Partners in Care, we stand in solidarity with our colleagues in children's palliative care leading this charge and encourage all to do the same.

To learn more, visit: https://ehospice.com/inter_childrens_posts/launch-of-campaign-to-close-the-gap-palliative-care-for-children-everywhere/?utm_campaign=Newsletter&utm_content=Newsletter&utm_medium=Email&utm_source=Newsletter&utm_term=Newsletter

07/14/2026

We are excited to share our 2025 Annual Report!

New connections formed, real collaboration took shape, and milestone after milestone reminded us just how much we can achieve together. Every win and every partnership, all in one place.

Dive in here:https://globalpartnersincare.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/GPIC-2025-Annual-Report.pdf

07/13/2026

Thank you Sunflower Children's Hospice for hosting Austin! We are excited to see what this internship will bring.

We are delighted to welcome Austin Marchand to Sunflower Children's Hospice. Austin is a Global Partners in Care Intern and a pre-med and English major student from the University of Notre Dame in Indiana. The children are delighted to have a fun play-mate; and we are delighted to have him help us put together a History of St Nicholas /Sunflower Children's Hospice , which will include an oral history. Interviewing key people , documenting important milestones, placing the development within the health environment and health system; identifying the impact on the development of palliative care for children nationally and globally, we will also be using it as pilot for a national history of the development of palliative care for children in South Africa, working with Sue Boucher and Patch SA - Palliative Care for Children South Africa. We are fortunate in having volunteers and staff who were with us from the beginning, some who helped us care for children even before opening Sunflower House in 1998 when we had Bloemfontein Children's Hospice as a programme within Bloemfontein, then Naledi Hospice from 1994, and many who have shared the journey with our children - and their memories will be precious.
Thank you to those who have been so welcoming to Austin and he is so grateful for the welcome he has received the past few days, warm hospitality from Tessa Hattingh and her friends and a generous welcome from The Anglican Cathedral of St Andrew and St Michael, Bloemfontein at the morning service yesterday. This will be a labour of love and we look forward to sharing the Sunflower Story with Bloemfontein for many years to come! Bloemnuus ExpressLacey AhernEthan HarnedBobby Mitchley
Lientjie MentzHanneke BritsSunflower Children's Hospice TrustWerner SchmidtSunflower Children's Hospice TrustMy City BloemfonteinOFM, The Sound Of Your Life

07/09/2026

Join Palliative Care in Humanitarian Aid Situations and Emergencies and the African Palliative Care Association (APCA) for an upcoming global webinar addressing a critical intersection of humanitarian responses during infections disease outbreaks and palliative care.

Session #1: 3 PM UK time on July 22nd, 2026
Session #2: 8 AM UK time on July 23rd, 2026
First Session: https://twoworldscancer.zoom.us/meeting/register/f5idyuXTQP6nPujHwd0TJg
Second Session: https://twoworldscancer.zoom.us/meeting/register/0lRWQXFDQMiif4_JkxZ5cg

Join international experts to learn best practices for integrating holistic relief into public health crises and infectious disease management!

06/24/2026

Today, we caught up with a number of our partners across the U.S. and Africa.

We are grateful for your ongoing commitment to the shared missions of your partnerships. It was fantastic to facilitate new connections between members of the GPIC community. We look forward to seeing how these opportunities continue to facilitate new collaboration in the future!