Cancer and other chronic diseases inflict pain, trauma and stress on patients and their families. Palliative care raises awareness, relieves suffering, provides supportive care and relief, end-of-life care, ensuring the best possible quality of life for those suffering. It also affords much-needed support to caregivers. In fact, palliative care services also complement medical care by offering counselling and other holistic support services.
However, while palliative care is well-established in India's major cities, it is a concept that is unheard of much less experienced by residents in smaller cities and towns. It is not just the public who know little of palliative care; awareness among doctors and health care professionals is also limited in smaller cities and towns, such as Tirupati and Ranchi.
There is a pressing need to raise awareness about the importance of palliative care, especially for patients with cancer and other chronic illnesses, and their caregivers, to help manage disease-related symptoms and improve their quality of life.
On World Hospice and Palliative Care Day, 26 October 2024, the Sri Venkateswara Institute of Cancer Care and Advanced Research (SVICCAR), set up by the Tata Trusts in association with the Tirumala Tirupathi Devasthanams (TTD), hosted a programme that discussed the integration of palliative care and oncology into the healthcare system.
Dr Mallika Tiruvadanan, Managing Trustee of Lakshmi Pain and Palliative Care Trust, Chennai, emphasised the importance of introducing palliative care, which addresses the physical and emotional distress caused by cancer and chronic diseases to enhance quality of life, at the MBBS level to benefit the millions who need it across the country. Dr Narendra Hulikal, Head of Surgical Oncology at Sri Venkateswara Institute of Medical Sciences (SVIMS) noted that while most symptoms associated with advanced cancer – difficulty swallowing; bleeding; breathing issues; fluid accumulation in the chest and abdomen; intestinal obstruction; obstructive jaundice, etc. – can be managed with medication, some require surgical intervention. Dr V Surendran from Cancer Institute, Adyar Chennai, emphasised that "the goal of palliative care is to add life to days rather than days to life."
Dr Prasanth, Medical Director at SVICCAR, Tirupati, stressed that palliative care is a collaborative effort best achieved through a patient-centred approach involving doctors, nurses, psychologists, NGOs, and caregivers. He highlighted the need to develop this care with the support of stakeholders, in line with the WHO’s 2014 mandate, which was echoed by speakers from various specialities—including surgeons, psycho-oncologists, palliative care specialists, and other faculty—during awareness meetings held in Tirupati.
Today, India is experiencing an increase in chronic life-threatening diseases, of which cancer is the third most common cause of morbidity and mortality. The need to provide effective pain and palliative care services across the country is growing even as there are many states in the country where there are no palliative care facilities available.
Andhra Pradesh is making notable strides in expanding palliative care services with key centres in Visakhapatnam, Tirupati, Kurnool, and Puttaparthi. As the only hospital in Rayalaseema and neighbouring regions of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka offering 24/7 palliative support, SVICCAR is committed to reaching more needy patients.
SVICCAR's Pain and Palliative Care Department, led by Dr Ravikumar and his team, is tackling this challenge by providing interventional and non-interventional pain management for cancer and non-cancer pain. Yet, as the demand for these services rises, further development of palliative care facilities and resources, especially in rural areas, will ensure that patients across the state receive compassionate, effective end-of-life care.
