Palliative Care

Palliative Care

News: India faces an increasing burden of Non-communicable diseases such as Cancer, diabetes, hypertension etc which calls for focus on Palliative care.

What is Palliative care?
• Palliative care is a type of medical care that aims to improve the quality of life of patients and their families who are facing problems associated with lifethreatening illnesses. It prevents and relieves suffering by addressing the physical, psychological, social and spiritual needs of the patients.
• Palliative care is not intended to provide curative treatment, but rather to complement it and support the patients’ goals and preferences. Palliative care can be provided at any stage of the illness, not only at the end of life.

How many need Palliative care in India?
• India has experienced a steep rise in the burden of lifestylerelated non-communicable diseases.
• Nearly 1.4 million people are diagnosed with cancer in India every year while diabetes, hypertension, and respiratory diseases are also on the rise.
• Estimated 7-10 million people need palliative care sooner or later in the disease trajectory.
• There is skewed availability of palliative care services which is largely available at tertiary healthcare facilities in urban areas.
• 55 million people in India are pushed below the poverty line every year due to health-related expenditures (over-medicalisation plays a significant role).

What are steps taken by Government to ensure Palliative care?
• Policy and program development - The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare launched the National Programme for Palliative Care (NPPC) in 2012, which aims to provide palliative care services at all levels of health care, improve access to opioids for pain relief, train health professionals and volunteers, and create awareness among the public.
• National Programme for Prevention & Control of Non-Communicable Diseases (NP-NCD) - Launched in 2010 to counter the rising burden of noncommunicable diseases in the country. In order to strengthen palliative care, the GoI revised the operational guidelines of NP-NCD.
• Service delivery - There are several institutions and organizations that provide palliative care services in India, both in urban and rural areas. Some of these are: Shanti Avedna Sadan (Mumbai, Delhi and Goa), Institute of Palliative Medicine (Kozhikode), Gujarat Cancer Research Institute (Ahmedabad)