World Hospice & Palliative Care Day – 13 October 2012
Join the rest of the world to celebrate World Hospice and Palliative Care Day on 13th October 2012. The theme for 2012 is:
“Living to the end – palliative care for an ageing population”
The specific palliative care needs of older people are increasingly being recognized due to the burden of non-communicable diseases on older people as well as the ageing HIV pandemic in the era of anti-retroviral therapy. As the “Worldwide Hospice and Palliative Care Online” points out in their newsletter,
The palliative care needs of older people are complex and often neglected. The issue is globally applicable and incorporates older people living with life-limiting diseases as well as the issue of older people as carers of people with life-limiting illness, particularly HIV and AIDS, in developing countries.
India has included palliative care and elder care as important targets in its Non-Communicable Diseases strategy in the next five year plan. We are looking forward to significant progress in the coming years!