Abstract
Last week I was privileged to organize a Pediatric Palliative Care Workshop of the Middle East Cancer Consortium (MECC) in Larnaca, Cyprus, that brought together health-care professionals from Turkey, Cyprus (both Greek and Turkish parts), Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Iraq, Pakistan, Morocco and Uganda. This forum meets every year in Cyprus to explore the best ways to alleviate the suffering of cancer victims. It is inspiring. Universal empathy for the terminally ill and the dying breaks through political walls and overpowers religious and cultural differences. The dominant language in the meeting is that of compassion, solidarity and human decency. Such a gathering calls for hope where geopolitical conflicts rule, for the building of bridges to common ground[1]. The faculty from the United States described the most recent advances in palliative care, whereas the participants from the Middle East exalted the role of the extended family as an important companion of the dying during their final journey. The familiarity with death, which is decreasing in developed countries, produces a unique appreciation of the gifts of life and of the sacredness of each human being endowed with a special mission for which no advanced technologies can stand in[2].
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