9.9 million people are in unrelieved Serious Health-related Suffering (SHS) in South Asian Countries due to lack of access to pain relief and palliative care, inappropriate EOLC and catastrophic health expenditure.
Most South Asian countries do not have palliative care included in their health systems.
In countries in which palliative care has been included as part of healthcare, implementation gaps impede access.
Effective policies, programs and implementation, demonstration of successful initiatives, encouraging community and civil society participation and awareness, opioid access, palliative care education, institution of end-of-life care policies and need based research, together can relieve SHS at a low-cost.
