J&K gets its first palliative care centre for cancer patients

Jammu and Kashmir Tuesday got its first centre for palliative care programme and treatment of cancer patients.

The centre was inaugurated by Principal Secretary Health and Medical Education Atul Dulloo at district hospital at Gandhi Nagar in Jammu city.

"It is the first centre to provide palliative care services to patients with cancer. The centre will be treating patients suffering from cancer and terminally ill on daily basis", Head of Centre and Pain treatment specialist Rohit Lahori told reporters here.

The centre has an attached 10-bedded ward with state of the art facilitates and trained staff from the government hospital Gandhi Nagar, Jammu will be deployed there, Lahori said.

It has been set up under the national palliative care programme by AIIMS, New Delhi in collaboration with the Union health ministry and the Asia Pacific Hospice Palliative Care Network (APHN), Singapore, he added.

"The power of healing does not lie in just prescribing drugs and medical treatment. What it essentially requires is caring for the patients," Lahori said.

"Palliative care is a specialised area of healthcare that focuses on relieving and preventing the suffering of patients," he added.

Palliative care includes pain and symptom management, disease-modifying treatments, psychological, social, spiritual support and bereavement support.

Apart from cancer, it deals with diseases like HIV/AIDS, dementia, strokes and end stage renal diseases among others, he said.

We have so far admitted six patients suffering from end stage cancer diseases under the palliative care programme and provided OPD services to 15 Patients, he said.