New Delhi: A fresh study argues that weaving palliative care into the public health framework could spread access more evenly and boost overall health outcomes.
Palliative care, defined as a branch of medicine that seeks to prevent and relieve the physical, social, and spiritual suffering of those battling long‑term, serious illnesses and the caregivers who support them, plays a crucial role in comprehensive care. The World Health Organisation describes it as “an approach that improves the quality of life of patients (adults and children) and their families who are facing problems associated with life‑threatening illness.”
The research estimates that roughly 7–10 million people across India need palliative care services, yet less than 4 percent of them currently obtain such care. “With rising burden of chronic diseases in the country and associated suffering, there is an urgent need to improve access to palliative care from the public health system,” Parth Sharma of the Department of Community Medicine at Maulana Azad Medical College, New Delhi, told LatestNewsX.
Carried out by the Association for Socially Applicable Research (ASAR) in Pune, the study set out to map how far people can travel to reach a palliative care facility and how that distance might shrink if services were delivered at every tier of public health delivery. Their analysis, published in ecancermedicalscience, found that by 2022, India operated 526 palliative care centres, corresponding to a density of four centres per 10 million inhabitants. Highest concentrations appeared in Lakshadweep, Goa and Kerala. On average, people had to travel about 118 minutes—median, with an interquartile range of 71 to 179 minutes—to reach the nearest centre, and only about 24 percent, 40 percent and 71 percent of the population lived within 30, 60 and 120 minutes, respectively. Rural communities faced poorer accessibility than urban centres, and the gap varied sharply from state to state. While Kerala and Chandigarh nearly achieved universal reach, states such as Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and Bihar lagged far behind.
Importantly, the researchers noted that embedding palliative care throughout the entire public health system would markedly improve reach. “Access to palliative care in India is limited, especially in rural areas. Expanding integration with the public health system could enhance access, ensuring more equitable care nationwide,” the study concluded.
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