GUWAHATI:
Palliative care is a must for all terminally ill and seriously ill patients to ease their physical pain and also help them deal with the trauma. However, not many patients have to access to it, said doctors.
In fact, palliative care should go hand in hand with the medical treatment that is provided to seriously ill and terminally ill patients so as to ease their physical symptoms and improve their quality of life. Although there are few centres providing such care in the city, many people are yet to understand its significance in the treatment and management of such patients.
Palliative care is an approach to specialized care to ease the physical pain and stress that a seriously ill or terminally ill patient has to endure.
"Palliative care is essential for all seriously ill and terminally ill patients primarily because it aims to ease their physical suffering. While medical treatment is provided to cure the disease that may affect them, palliative care aims to enhance their quality of life. In case of terminally ill patients such care ensures that they can at least spend the last days of their lives peacefully through pain management," said A.K
Adhikari, principal of the
Gauhati Medical College and Hospital.
"We have a few clinics in the city, which provide such care to patients. However, there is still lack of awareness about it among the public in general," said Adhikari.
