2018 Tamil Canadian Walk to Support the Northern Province Palliative Care Initiative
July 11, 2018 – (Toronto) The Canadian Tamil Congress (CTC) is proud to announce that proceeds from the 10th Annual Tamil Canadian Walk to be held on September 9, 2018, at Thomson Memorial Park will go towards developing and implementing sustainable palliative care services across Northern Province, Sri Lanka. These services would cater to both cancer and non-cancer patients.
Palliative care is a multidisciplinary approach to specialized medical and nursing care for people with advanced progressive diseases. It is estimated that in Northern Province, population 1.2 million, 4,000 patients will require palliative care each year. Unfortunately, palliative care services in Northern Province are inadequate and poorly accessible. Family and social structures were destroyed as a result of war, causing younger generations to go abroad and leaving the community’s most vulnerable, sick, and elderly citizens in a precarious situation.
According to doctors at Tellippalai Trail Cancer Hospital, there is a shortage of pain medications and a lack of specialized palliative care training among medical and nursing staff. “This lack of training and poor public awareness about the benefits of a good palliative care system, are barriers to overcome in achieving good comprehensive care for the province’s palliative patients,” said Dr. Meera Selvakone of the Northern Province Palliative Care Initiative. “We aim to change this.”
Proceeds from the 2018 Tamil Canadian Walk will go towards expanding the community mobile unit in Jaffna. The mobile unit consists of a doctor, nurse and health care assistant, who visit patients with advanced illnesses in their homes and deliver much needed medical and nursing care. The current community mobile unit serves cancer patients in 3 Jaffna divisions. Funds from the walk will enable the unit to cover 4 additional divisions, accommodating a total of 1,000 patients. This is more than double the number of patients that the mobile unit currently sees. This expansion will also allow the mobile unit to serve differently-abled and non-cancer palliative patients for the first time. Finally, funds from the walk will go towards developing a Pain Relief and Palliative Care Medication Fund, to pay for medications that would not otherwise be accessible or affordable for some patients in desperate need.
“Over the last 9 years, the Tamil Canadian Walk has raised funds to support many important causes, including the Canadian Heart and Stroke Foundation, the Center for Addiction and Mental Health, and the Sampur Housing Project,” said Dr. V. Santhakumar, President of the Canadian Tamil Congress. “Building upon these successful initiatives, we hope that friends in Canada will once again come together and contribute to a worthwhile project with tremendous and enduring impact to those in need.” Any one of us could end up in this situation. Palliative care is for all of us. We must support this. We must make every day count.
Event: 10th Annual Tamil Canadian Walk
Date: Sunday, September 9th, 2018
Venue: Thomson Memorial Park, Brimley Rd. and Lawrence Ave., Scarborough
Time: 8:30am (Registration) 9:00am (Walk Commences)
For more details or to receive a pledge form, visit http://tamilcanadianwalk.com/ or call 416-240-0078
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