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New Policy
Kerala State Adopts Palliative Care in PHC
It is the first Government in the world to have integrated
palliative care in primary healthcare system
In a study done in Malappuram district of Kerala, it was found that around
40 per cent of those people who are dying would have benefited from applying
the principles of Palliative Care (PC) in their management. In Kerala, with
a population of 32 million and a crude death rate of 6.3 (Reference: Census
2001) around 80,000 dying patients and their families would be benefited each
year. To this, if we add the number of people living for years with chronic
conditions the total number will be much more. Taking cue of this, in a revolutionary
decision, the Kerala Government has issued an order that integrates PC with
the primary healthcare system run by the Health and Family Welfare Department.
This step is a follow-up on the PC policy issued by the Government in 2008.
"The Government of Kerala has probably become the first Government in the
whole world to officially integrate PC into primary healthcare," commented
Dr Suresh Kumar, Director, Institute of Palliative Medicine, Kerala. The circular
has laid down a series of guidelines for the delivery, administration and review
of PC from the PHC to the Directorate of Health Services.
At present, there are around 100 palliative care units in Kerala. The guidelines
stress the role of PHC, as the epi-centre of the actual delivery of PC. An elaborative
reporting system has been put in place. It also establishes the procedures for
fixing responsibilities. The PHC will play a strategic role in PC management.
At the PHC, there will be an outpatient clinic atleast once a week, medicines
will be issued to the patients for upto six weeks (unlike three-five days for
ordinary patients), and a trained field staffer would go on home visits, on
rotation-basis. The PHC will also liaise with the local panchayats or municipalities.
The District Medical Officer (DMO) will ensure that doctors, nurses and the
field staff are adequately trained in PC.
EH News Bureau
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