7-10 million Indians need palliative care, but only 4% have access to it

The study said the national EML — designed by the Union Ministry of Health and last updated in 2022 — had 15 drugs, or 46 per cent of all medicines recommended by the IAHPC for palliative care.The IAHPC has suggested 22 essential drugs for 16 of the most common palliative care symptoms, such as depression, pain, anxiety and vomiting, prevalent in end-stage chronic diseases linked to kidney failure, liver failure and cancer.According to Dr Parth Sharma, corresponding author of the article, with India rising to the top globally in multiple chronic diseases such as diabetes and cancer, the suffering in the communities is expected to increase significantly.“Access to palliative care is still abysmal in India. Pain is one of the most common symptoms requiring palliative care. Often, basic medicines like paracetamol and diclofenac are not able to relieve severe pain in people with life-limiting illnesses. Morphine then becomes the drug of choice for pain relief,” he said.



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