Delhi-resident Sarada, a 56-year-old former nurse from Kerala, suffering from advanced breast cancer, had lived with severe pain for over two months when lockdown prevented her from accessing any cancer care.
Like thousands of cancer patients, whose care and disease outcomes were affected by the pandemic, Ms. Sarada too found herself in much distress.
“I thought I could come to my home State and seek care but I was in so much pain, I did not know how I could manage alone. If it were not for Dr. Rajagopal, I may not be alive today to tell this tale,” she says.
From July on, right from her quarantine at the Medical College Hospital and later treatment at the RCC, she was taken care of by the team at Pallium India
“Apart from the ravages of COVID, the suffering that many have gone through during the pandemic because of chronic diseases, loss of income and loved ones is horrendous. Palliative care workers have been at the forefront, doing a lot of silent work,” says M. R.Rajagopal, chairman of Pallium India.
The 73rd World Health Assembly, which approved the resolution on COVID-19 response had sought the commitment of governments “to deliver palliative care services alongside safe testing and treatment for COVID”. Yet, palliative care is yet to be integrated with the formal strategy to fight the pandemic at the Centre or State-level.
For administrators, who are focussing on equipping their health systems to grapple with the care of thousands of patients overwhelming hospitals, the need and importance of palliative care may not be very tangible.
But from helping COVID-19 patients manage their lingering physical symptoms to helping the families of COVID patients fight the frightening feeling of stigma and isolation, palliative care workers have been working hard.
“Our helpline (8606 8848 89) was flooded with calls from patients seeking help to get their regular medications and people calling just to air their feeling of grief and loneliness,” says Vyshnavi, who coordinates the helpline at Pallium India
“This pandemic has not just taken many lives. Many could not say goodbye to their loved ones before they were whisked away into ICUs or give that final hug before parting. Even the funerals were lonely affairs. These people need help to cope with their daily lives while they are grieving,” Dr. Rajagopal points out.
It is for them that Pallium India is launching a new helpline, Sukh-Dukh, wherein trained professionals will offer counselling to help people cope with their loss.
The service is being piloted from Thursday, World Palliative Care Day.