Majlis Hospis Malaysia: The Malaysian Hospice Council⁴⁴

The Malaysian Hospice Council was established in 1998 as an umbrella organisation for the country’s nongovernmental hospice and palliative care service providers. Its board of directors is elected at the Council’s biennial general meeting and its members are volunteers. Since inception, the Council’s membership organisations have risen from 11 to 19. The Council’s stated objectives are:

1. To provide a national forum for the exchange of ideas and information on matters relating to hospice and palliative care, and to encourage the dissemination of such information to the general community and to professional, paraprofessional and volunteer caregivers through education and community awareness programmes.
2. To consult with government and health authorities on the needs of those with progressive disease not responsive to curative treatment, and their families and carers, and generally to act as advocate for the rights of service users.
3. To assist in the identification of areas of need in the care of such persons and their families, and to initiate action to fulfil those needs, including the provision and running of care facilities and related institutions.
4. To provide advice to, and support the development of emerging hospice and palliative care organisations and existing hospice and palliative care programmes throughout Malaysia.
5. To assist in the development of appropriate standards for hospice and palliative care in Malaysia, and to promote the maintenance of these standards among members and service providers.
6. To liaise and co-operate with organisations with similar objectives in the Asia-Pacific region and throughout the world.

The Council publishes a twice-yearly electronic newsletter, downloadable from its website which routinely includes a message from the chairman, articles from member organisations, conference listings and diary dates, up-coming courses, and continuing education (the exploration of an issue or a practice/treatment guide).

Recent newsletters give an indication of the Council’s advocacy and representative roles. These include:

1. Discussions with the Minister of Health regarding:
   • The requirement for private health care facilities to make charitable contributions according to the 1998 Act. According to the minister, contributions are not required from hospices since they are ‘already a charitable provider of service.’⁴⁵
   • The request that 50% of hospice running costs be provided by government. The minister considers this to be unpractical so the present system of grant applications on the basis of specific programmes should continue.⁴⁶
2. Discussions with the deputy director of the Medical Development Division of the Ministry of Health regarding:
   • The inclusion of palliative care in the Ninth Malaysia Plan.⁴⁷ Initiatives include the establishment of six regional palliative care centres and the introduction of a palliative care curriculum for medical undergraduates and postgraduates.
   • Staff training. The MoH would like to see more centres offering training courses and a common curriculum developed. Hospis Malaysia has agreed to consider this.
   • A palliative care advisory committee. Proposals centre on the establishment of a palliative care advisory committee at the MOH which includes members of the Malaysian Hospice Council.⁴⁸

Asia Pacific Hospice Palliative Care Network (APHN).

The APHN evolved over a series of meetings (which owed much to the support of its patron, Shigeaki Hinohara) from 1995 until March 2001, when the organisation was registered in Singapore. Although the Secretariat is based in Singapore, the Association is a regional organisation with fourteen founding sectors (geographical regions in which members are located). These include: Australia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Myanmar, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam.

The aim of APHN is to empower and support individuals and organisations committed to alleviating suffering from life-threatening illness in the Asia Pacific region. More than 1000 individuals and organisations from 29 countries have registered as members since 2001.⁴⁹ The Association’s objectives are:

• To facilitate the development of hospice and palliative care programs (both service providers and umbrella bodies) and other relevant initiatives
• To promote professional and public education in palliative care
• To enhance communication and dissemination of information
• To foster research and collaborative activities
• To encourage co-operation with local, regional and international professional and public organisations.

Nine key areas of activity have been identified:

1. Linking individuals and organisations.
2. Publishing a directory.
3. Establishing a website.
4. Clinical fellowship scheme.
5. Visiting faculty scheme.
6. Travel bursaries.
7. Donations of medicines.
8. Donations of textbooks.
9. Asia Pacific conferences.⁵⁰

Among the Council’s 20 members are Malaysia’s Ednin Hamzah and T Devaraj; previously, Ranjit Mathew Oommen has fulfilled the role of Honorary Treasurer.