Published on: November 11, 2019

Palliative care in Odisha was started in the 1990s by Dr Sukdev Nayak and team, at the Regional Cancer Centre, Cuttack. That was a great beginning; but at district level, the growth was precious little. From the beginning of 2019, Pallium India has been working with champions in Odisha to get the state to adopt a palliative care policy. We had prepared a draft policy, and to some extent, the attempt has borne fruit.

On 7th November 2019, the Chief Minister, Shri Naveen Patnaik announced a palliative care program to be started at the district level. Perhaps a pragmatic program could be much more effective than a policy document.

Congratulations, palliative care champions in Odisha.