Event MC Luisa Baldini welcomes delegates to the two-day symposium. With opening remarks by Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, President of the Pontifical Academy for Life, and Sultana Afdhal, Chief Executive Officer of the World Innovation Summit for Health.

Dr. Mohammed Ghaly, Academic Director of the Research Center for Islamic Legislation and Ethics at Hamad Bin Khalifa University (Qatar) and lead author of the WISH 2018 report on Palliative Care and Islamic Ethics, presents an overview of the practice of palliative care in Qatar and the Arabian Gulf region in comparison to the Western context.
This session aims to highlight the existing gaps in modern scholarship and investigate ways to tackle the ethical challenges, found at the intersection of palliative care and Islamic bioethics, through approaches and analytical tools rooted in Islamic tradition and formulated in a way that is accessible to international bioethical discourse.

Professor Carlos Centeno MD, specialist in palliative care from the Department of Palliative Medicine at the University of Navarra Clinic (Spain), presents Catholic perspectives on palliative care and outlines the Pontifical Academy for Life's work in this area.

Dr Riccardo Di Segni is both the Chief Rabbi of Rome and a medical doctor. Drawing on both his medical and religious expertise, he will explain how Judaism tackles ethical issues relating to palliative care.

Professor Julian Hughes, a member of the clinical advisory board of the Journal of Medical Ethics. He is a Professor of Old Age Psychiatry at the University of Bristol (UK) and a visiting professor at Newcastle University. He is the author of Thinking Through Dementia (Oxford University Press), holds a PhD in philosophy from the University of Warwick and read medicine and surgery at the University of Bristol Medical School.

Panelists:
Dr. Mohammed Ghaly: Academic Director, Research Center for Islamic Legislation and Ethics (Qatar)
Prof. Carlos Centero MD: Palliative specialist, University of Navarra (Spain)
Prof. John McMillan: Editor-in-chief of the Journal of Medical Ethics and professor at the University of Otaga (New Zealand)
Dr. Riccardo Di Segni: Chief Rabbi of Rome (Italy)

Moderator: Luisa Baldini

Rather than focus on differences, should effort be placed on commonalities across the three great monotheistic religions when looking to ensure that faith plays a role in providing palliative care that serves the mind, body and spirit?

Panelists:
Prof. Christina Puchalski, Director of the George Washington University Institute for Spirituality and Health (USA)
Muhammad Ali, Chaplain of New York Presbyterian Hospital / Weill Cornell & Columbia University Medical Center (USA)
Dr. Alessandro Stievano, Associate Director of Nursing and Health Policy, International Council of Nurses (Switz...)
Dr Nunziatina Comoretto, Pontifical Academy for Life Scientific Section (Italy)
Moderator: Luisa Baldini

Palliative care for children and young adults with life-limiting illnesses requires a holistic, integrated approach to care that embraces physical, emotional, social and spiritual elements. Such care involves unique approaches, given the primary role played by parents and family members in decision making, and the strain placed on families requiring specific emotional and spiritual support for the family and caregivers. This session will focus on the spiritual aspects of service provision and will present a unique case study from the GCC region and look at provision of pediatric palliative care in Italy.

Panelists:
Dr. Franca Benini, Head of the Veneto Regional Centre for Pain Management and Paediatric Palliative Care and Director of Padua Children's Hospice (Italy)
Prof. Ibrahim Janahi, Chair of Medical Education, Sidra Medicine (Qatar)
Gianluca Fontana Senior Policy Fellow and Director of Operations, Imperial College (UK)