Application Deadline: Tuesday, 1st November 2011

Bruce Davis

Mr Bruce Davis from Cornwall, UK, has been a supporter of palliative care efforts in  India for a decade and a half. He has instituted a Gold Medal in Palliative Medicine for young doctors.

Dr E Divakaran, Chairman, Board of Examiners invites applications from doctors who appear(ed) for final M.B.B.S examination between 31.12.2006 and 31.12.2011 from any Medical College in India.

The detailed call for applications, application form, list of resources and the screening test are available here:

• Download BDGM 2011 application form… (pdf)

PLEASE NOTE: Completed applications must reach Calicut before Tuesday, 1st November 2011

Bringing hope to elderly and terminally ill Indians

By Sanjoy Majumder – BBC News, Kerala

Pain and suffering

Only the rich or privileged have access to proper health care – the rest are increasingly forced to battle alone.

But 2,000km (1,242 miles) away, in Kerala, there is a ray of hope.

At the Institute of Palliative Medicine in Calicut, Dr Suresh Kumar checks on a patient, a poor fisherman who is suffering from lung cancer.

Moved by the pain and suffering of terminally ill patients, the doctor gave up his job as an anaesthetist to set up a ground-breaking palliative care system that has now spread across the state.

“Most of the problems faced by elderly people are not medical. A lot of the issues are social, emotional, issues of loneliness and a lack of money,” he explains.

Read the full article at BBC News…

Thanks to the BBC, Sanjoy Majumder and Linda Pressly for sharing palliative care with the World!

• If you missed Linda Pressly’s January 2011 interview in Trivandrum, listen to it here…

“I do not feel like a dead log now: I rather feel like one among you”

Soothing touch: Forest Minister Benoy Viswom helps T. Kumaran

These are the words of Mr Kumaran as he was wheeled by Kerala’s Forest Minister Benoy Viswom through the newly created half-kilometer, tree-lined pathway, part of the “Santwana Vanam” project at the Institute of Palliative Medicine, Calicut/Kozhikode.

“Santwana Vanam” was created with the support of the Forest Department of Kerala for patients like Mr Kumaran, a paraplegic, and for many others whose lives are limited by disease.

• Read the full report in The Hindu: Helping them bury their pain in the lap of nature

Let us at this time remember with gratitude Bruce Davis, who supported the Pain and Palliative Care Society at Calicut by finding almost all the money needed to build the Institute of Palliative Medicine.

Thank you Mr Mohammed Saif for sending us the information.

Dear All, Happy to inform you that Institute of Palliative Medicine has been designated as a World Health Organization Collaborating Center (WHOCC) in Palliative Care. IPM becomes the fifth WHOCC in Palliative Care in the World and the first one in the Developing world. We hope that this important designation to a center in India can be used to strengthen the evolving national palliative care initiative in the country.

Regards,
Dr Suresh Kumar
Director, WHO Collaborating Center for Community Participation in Palliative Care and Long Term Care

The Regional Cancer Center (RCC) at Dr B Borooah Cancer Institute has created a full time position in Palliative Care.

Dr Kabindra Bhagawati has been appointed as a palliative care physician in that position.

The relevance of this cannot be underestimated.

Dr Goswami

Dr Bhagawati

In Assam, as in the rest of the country, Palliative Care started as a charitable activity. Dr Dinesh Chandra Goswami founded the Guwahati Pain and Palliative Care Society (GPPCS) in May 1999. Since then, GPPCS has been providing palliative care to the patients in the RCC.

One major weakness of the whole palliative care movement in the country has been that integration with mainstream medicine has been poor. But this development in Guwahati is encouraging.

Kabindra underwent a Basic Certificate Course in Palliative Care from Calicut in 1999 and a Diploma in Palliative Medicine from Edith Cowan University in Perth, Australia.

Congratulations, Kabindra and Dinesh! And thank you from all of us for your hard work and commitment that made all this possible.

Thank you, Doordarshan!

The national television channel Doordarshan (Malayalam) has been exceptionally supportive of palliative care. In their live phone-in program, Snehasparsham, palliative care has had a strong presence for the last several months.

Dr MC Rajasree on DDTV Malayalam

One recent phone-in program was conducted by Dr M.C. Rajasree from Pain and Palliative Care Society, Calicut. The nature of questions clearly indicated how commonly patients and families were at a loss about whom to approach for help.

This is particularly relevant in India, where the “general practitioner” is practically non-existent and in practice, patients are left to find out for themselves which specialist to approach.

Dr Rajasree directed each questioner to the nearest palliative care unit for advice. This clearly demonstrates a hidden service that palliative care services are doing. They explain. They talk to patients and help to direct them to the appropriate medical service that would be suitable for them.

But the need for this service is not taken seriously, perhaps. Palliative care services in Kerala have by and large catered to general health needs of people.

Perhaps we need to give more attention to patient navigation?

In 2003, they started home visits and a few years back, an inpatient wing for palliative care was added.  The work involves both the hospital and the community and out of about 100 volunteers, about 20 attend to the work on a regular basis.

The institution celebrated its 10th anniversary on 01 May 2010.  The festivities started with a rally by school students, scouts & guides and volunteers followed by a public meeting.  The most noticeable feature was the joy and enthusiasm of the team of volunteers.  Their sense of achievement and fulfillment were obvious.

Best wishes Lisa PPCS!

Institutions like yours have a special place in development of palliative care in the country – that of integrating hospital based practice with community based work.