CONFERENCES

CONFERENCES & other announcements from chn

DO YOU WANT TO ANNOUNCE YOUR CONFERENCE? E-MAIL CHN WITH DETAILS (some restrictions will apply)

SYMPOSIUM Euthanasia Prevention Coalition International Symposium on euthanasia and assisted suicide on November 30 - December 1, 2007 at the Toronto Airport

Comment re International Symposium on Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide:

There has never been a Symposium on Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide like this before. In the over 15 years as a anti-euthanasia activist, I have not seen a more impressive list of speakers- from North America and overseas, who will gather together to share their expertise, & experiences during the symposium. I am very excited. I would encourage those who have not yet made up their mind to go to do whatever you can to make arrangements now to attend this - or send a representative from your organization - perhaps those who can't afford it could get help from some sponsor(s)? Every area of euthanasia, PAS, palliative care, disability, and threat to the most vulnerable will be covered. Imagine the information you will come home armed with! I am looking forward to hearing and meeting every speaker - I believe we are going to learn so much and am proud to promote this momentous event- Read more below on EPC's symposium. Cheryl CHN

International Symposium on Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide

Current Issues - Future Directions

The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition is organizing the first International Symposium on euthanasia and assisted suicide on November 30 - December 1, 2007 at the Toronto Airport Sheraton Hotel. Mark this weekend on your calendar.

The theme of the symposium is: “Current Issues - Future Directions.” The symposium will focus on our current concerns and look toward establishing common directions.

Organized by: the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition - Canada

Co-Sponsored by: Euthanasia Prevention Coalition - Canada, Compassionate Healthcare Network (CHN) Canada; • NOT DEAD YET - USA, Physicians for Compassionate Care - USA, Vermont Alliance for Ethical Healthcare - Vermont, Care NOT Killing Alliance - UK, No Less Human, UK.

Nearly every leader and significant speaker on the issues of euthanasia and assisted suicide will be attending this Symposium. Make sure that it includes you.

The program begins on Friday November 30^th at 9:30 am and ends on Saturday at 5:30 pm. The Friday night dinner speaker is Professor Margaret Somerville founding director of the McGill Centre for Medicine, Ethics and Law.

The current list of speakers includes:

• Margaret Somerville, from the McGill Centre for

Medicine, Ethics and Law. Somerville is the author of many

books including: The Ethical Canary, Death Talk, The

Ethical Imagination, etc.

• Wesley J. Smith, an attorney for the International Task

Force on Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide and a special

consultant to for the Center for Bioethics and Culture. Smith

is the author of many books including: Forced Exit, The

Culture of Death, Power over Pain, etc.

• Catherine Frazee is a professor of disability studies at

Ryerson University and the former chair of the Ontario

Human Rights Commission (1990 - 95).

• Dr William Toffler is a professor of Family Medicine at
(OHSU) and is the national director of Physicians for

Compassionate Care in Portland Oregon.

• Bobby Schindler is the brother of Terri Schiavo and works for the Terri Schindler Schiavo Foundation.

• Rita Marker is the Executive Director of the International

Task Force on Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide. She is the

author of Deadly Compassion and many articles and has

spoken throughout the world.

• Cheryl Eckstein is the founder of the Compassionate Health Care Network in Canada. (CHN) CHN intervened in the Sue Rodriguez case.

• Dr. Paul Byrne is a Neonatologist from Ohio and a recognized expert in the area of Brain Death criteria.

• Barbara Farlow became a disability rights activist after becoming a mother of disabled child

• Dr Mark Mostert is an expert on the Nazi T4 - euthanasia program and he developed an award winning website that is based on his research at: www.regent.edu/acad/schedu/uselesseaters

• Other speakers include:

Allison Davis from the UK,

Diane Coleman from NOT DEAD Yet,

Bert Dorenbos from the Netherlands and more.

The cost for the Symposium is:

$189 - adult, $100 - students or people with disabilities.

(Includes dinner) The room rate is $109.00 per night.

For more information contact the office at: info@epcc.ca

or call toll free at: 1-877-439-3348.

Note: Be sure to check out TURNING THE TIDE produced by the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition and Salt and Light television media foundation I have viewed this persuasive and gripping DVD - Turning the Tide produced by The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition. Through the years I have viewed a number of such documentaries, and consider this a cut above. This compelling DVD will engage its audience from beginning to end. If you have wanted to do something to educate the masses, help protect the vulnerable, the infirm, people with disabilities etc,. here is your opportunity to be pro-active and make a difference - purchase a gift copy for your church, pro-life organization, seniors home, and for whoever, and where ever you believe this will bring a crowd. More information on this DVD at http://www.chninternational.com/chn_the_book_shelf.htm

Footnote: This is such an excellent opportunity for those who wish they could do something positive. May I also suggest you order it now, while it is fresh in your mind. I can not emphasize enough, the importance of showing this remarkable DVD. All the information on Turning the Tide is posted below. (Don't forget to get a copy for yourself, show your family, friends, neighbors.) Cheryl Eckstein, CHN ... please forward this post to your group and friends!

Turning the Tide
The powerful new DVD on euthanasia and assisted suicide entitled: Turning the Tide is selling incredibly well, early in its distribution. The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition sold more than 300 copies of Turning the Tide within its first three weeks of distribution.

Turning the Tide, produced by the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition and Salt and Light television media foundation.

Turning the Tide was designed to change the way secular society perceives the issues of euthanasia and assisted suicide. Secular society views the issues of euthanasia and assisted suicide to be issues related to autonomy whereas Turning the Tide shifts the focus of the issue.

Turning the Tide uses a personal story style to focus on the vulnerability of the person when one experiences disability, depression or symptoms related to degenerative and/or end of life conditions. The video also focusses on issues related to pain and symptom management and proper end-of-life care.

Groups that have viewed Turning the Tide have been incredibly impressed by the production quality of the video and the profound comments by the people featured in the DVD.

Catherine Frazee, disability studies professor at Ryerson University comments in Turning the Tide that: "People like to frame this debate in the language of autonomy, or individual choice. They'll say to me that it's all right, you can say no, but other people will want to say yes, but I don't think individual autonomy should ever be permitted to trump the safety and well-being of the community."

Wesley Smith comments in Turning the Tide that: "You have a situation in Canada and certainly in the United States, where people are having difficulty getting access to ... good pain control, good psychiatric involvement and good social services. Are we going to say that the answer for these problems is assisted suicide?"

Senator Sharon Carstairs, former chair of the Special Senate Committee on Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide answers the question on why people want euthanasia and assisted suicide by stating: "sometimes the pian is just too horrible, but we can deal with that. The other reason is ... they want their personal dignity. Well that says something pretty awful about each and every one of us. Why have they lost their sense of dignity? It is because we have made them feel less than dignified?"

Jean Echlin, awarded the Dorothy Lea award for excellence in palliative care in 2004 comments in Turning the Tide that: "I could never advocate for someone to suicide when I can offer them pain management and symptom management right where they are."

Turning the Tide features: Bobby Schindler (Terri Schiavo's brother), Wesley Smith (Attorney, International Task Force on Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide), Catherine Frazee (former chair of the Ontario Human Rights Committee), Adrian Dieleman (counselor, rehabilitation clinic for spinal cord injuries), Jean Echlin (palliative care nursing consultant), Senator Sharon Carstairs (Canadian Senator), Alex Schadenberg (executive director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition), Reg Hancock (spinal cord injury survivor) and more.

A Discussion Guide for small group or classroom presentations has been designed for use and included with the DVD package. The discussion guide enables groups and individuals who share our concerns about vulnerable people to organize effective presentations on the issues. It is our hope that Turning the Tide will be used to facilitate many discussion forums throughout North America.

The Turning the Tide DVD package includes all the DVD, the Discussion Guide, a recording sheet and all the resources that are necessary for making a presentation on euthanasia and assisted suicide.

The Turning the Tide DVD package can be ordered from the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition for $50.00 for 1 package, $70.00 for 2 packages, or $100.00 for 4 packages by contacting the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition at: Box 25033, London ON, N6C 6A8, email: info@epcc.ca, or calling: 1-877-439-3348. Further bulk rates exist upon request.

6th OCTOBER 2007 WORLD HOSPICE AND PALLIATIVE CARE DAY

Advance information: March 2007

Events planned in at least 70 countries around the world

Thousands of people around the world will be staging concerts and other events to raise awareness and fundraise for hospice and palliative care services locally, nationally and internationally to mark this annual global event.

This year the official fundraising event of World Hospice and Palliative Care Day is Voices for Hospices, a global musical marathon consisting of a ‘Mexican wave’ across time zones of over 500 concerts taking place on the same day (6th October) at 7.30pm local time in more than 70 countries.

The theme for World Hospice and Palliative Care Day this year is Across the Ages: from Children to Older People, highlighting that people of all ages need access to hospice and palliative care, either as patients or as loved ones or carers of people facing terminal illness.

While the emphasis will be on Voices for Hospices, many different types of international, national and local fundraising and awareness-raising events are anticipated, including an international photography competition, the publication of a report into access to opiates, sponsored walks, exhibitions, celebrations, rallies and professional conferences.

The first ever World Hospice and Palliative Care Day took place in October 2005 with more than 1,100 events taking place in 74 countries. It was launched by HRH Princess Anne in London, and supported by Archbishop Desmond Tutu who described it as “an important global event”. In 2006, Bono and Elton John marked the event by expressing their support for hospice care.

Notes to editors

	Palliative care improves the quality of life of patients and their families through the prevention and relief of suffering by early identification and treatment of pain and other symptoms as well through practical, psychosocial and spiritual support.
	Half of the world’s 234 countries have no palliative care services available to their populations and one third have yet to take the first steps in planning to build service capacity.
	In those countries where hospice and palliative care services are present, provision is mostly localised, with only 15% of countries having achieved a measure of integration with mainstream healthcare service providers. In Pakistan, for example, there is only one service for a population of 158 million.
	Around the world, over one million people die every week.
	There are currently six million cancer deaths and over 10 million new cases of cancer every year, rising to 15 million by 2020.
	It is estimated that 100 million people could benefit from basic palliative care every year. This number is made up of 33 million people dying (60% of the total number dying in the world each year) and their 66 million family members, companions or carers (based on a conservative estimate of two people giving care and support for every person that dies). The actual number of people that receive palliative care is far lower. Although Sub-Saharan Africa has twice as many deaths per 1000 head of population annually as North America, it has only 1.5% of global palliative care resources compared to 55% in North America.

World Hospice and Palliative Care Day has been developed by the following partner organisations:

	African Palliative Care Association
	Asia Pacific Palliative Care Network
	Palliative Care Australia
	Canadian Hospice Palliative Care Association
	European Association of Palliative Care
	Eastern and Central European Palliative Care Task Force
	Help the Hospices - UK
	Irish Hospice Foundation
	Indian Association for Palliative Care
	International Association for Hospice and Palliative Care
	International Observatory on End of Life Care at Lancaster University – UK
	Latin American Association for Palliative Care
	National Hospice and Palliative Care Organisation - US
	Open Society Institute – US

To find out more and get involved in World Hospice and Palliative Care Day 2006, visit www.worldday.org, or email worldday@helpthehospices.org.uk

For media enquiries, contact
Jo Pratt, Help the Hospices, tel: 020 8699 6566 / 07734 566079 / jopratt@jopratt.com or
Katie Brewin, Help the Hospices, tel: 0161 881 7753 / katie@kbmedia.co.uk

Source: EAPC Latest News

DO YOU WANT TO ANNOUNCE YOUR CONFERENCE? EMAIL CHN WITH DETAILS
(some restrictions will apply)

mailto:chn@intergate.ca

Return to

NEW counter, as of November 05, 2004 you are visitor