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Succour for the terminally ill

A patient with terminal-illness, be it cancer or AIDS or other diseases, has only palliative units to turn to for further medical care. When the curative treatment does not yield results, the patients find some solace when they get relief from pain.

People from a cross section of society turn to such care. But, there are several problems the patients face that the pain and palliative care units do not attend to. It is to address such concerns of the patients that the Consortium of Pain and Palliative Care Units has decided to hold workshops.

The district has 14 units of the total 104 units in the State, said K. Radhakrishna Menon, secretary of the Consortium. A survey of all units will be taken for knowing the problems of patients registering from June 1 to July 31.

A larger study is also on to know the various kinds of diseases affecting people that require palliative care, he said. The majority are cancer patients, he added.

Head and neck cancers, lung cancer, intestinal cancer, breast cancer, uterine cancer, blood cancer, bone cancer and brain cancer are some of the commonly found cancers here.

The problems

A number of problems come up once a patient is diagnosed with cancer.

These problems are not addressed properly while the patients undergo surgery or radiation or chemotherapy as curative procedures.

It is to address all such problems by cancer patients that the consortium has planned a workshop in August at the Institute of Palliative Medical and Research Centre at St. George Hospital, Vazhakulam, Muvattupuzha.

Shyama Rajagopal

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