What cannot be cured must be palliated. It makes a vital difference to the terminally sick. The Cipla Cancer Palliative Care Centre at Warje near Pune bears a testimony to it. The Pune-based centre enables terminally sick cancer patients to look pain and suffering in the eye and face the inevitable with dignity and peace so that the true spirit of living prevails even in death. Emphasises Y K Hamied, ``We have set up a palliative centre and not a hospice where people go for dying. Palliation is for alleviating suffering while as hospice is a place where people go to die.''Patients are admitted for a few few days when palliative care specialists strive to relieve their painful symptoms. The centre can accommodate a maximum of 50 patients at a time. The patients are attended to by committed volunteers, who put in extraordinary efforts to manage them without promising any miracles. On the contrary, the patients and their relatives are told the harsh truth that the centre cannot offer a cure. At the same timethe attempt is to improve the quality of their life. Even festivals are celebrated where patients, old and new, share their experiences, forgetting their personal pain to help others negotiate theirs.
The centre is not only for patients but also their relatives who are not only saddened by the plight of their near and dear ones but also burdened with their helplessness in the matter. The relatives are counselled on how to take proper care of the patient at home. And all without any costs. Nevertheless, invaluable!
Copyright © 2000 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.