Palliative Care

Nearly all cancer patients experience pain but this can be reduced through prompt treatment and palliative care. Sadly, in developing countries, 80% of cancer patients have cancers that are too far advanced for effective treatment. Access to pain-relieving drugs and hospice services is often minimal or non-existent. As a consequence, these cancer patients and their families have to endure terrible suffering before death. A £25 donation to the INCTR Challenge fund will enable INCTR palliative care team (PAX) to provide training for cancer carers in Nepal.

An old woman being carried to a local hospital for medical help on a stretcher by her family members.

Stories from the field - INCTR PAX

* Building sustainable palliative care programmes - Home Based Care Programme through hospice Nepal - "the vehicle INCTR donated is still working well and it is one of the reaons why we are able to visit the patients 'come rain or shine" - Dr Pradeep Vaidya (Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital and Hospice Nepal)

* General support of palliative care in Nepal - ongoing INCTR PAX teaching programme. "I think this will be a good step towards establishing Nepal-based training for Palliative Care. The new physical facility looks good, and they are working on a curriculum. I think we can add some valuable support in many of the areas of need ..." - Dr Robin Love, after visiting the Stupa Community Hospital and Centre for Training, Research and International Relations in Kathmandu.

* The charity wants to support 400 of the poorest patients and families who require palliative care - food, transport, medications and family support. INCTR has established a Palliative Care Access Programme (PAX) to improve the quality of life of terminally ill patients and their families by providing pain and sympton relief, and spiritual and psychological support from the moment of diagnosis through to the end of life. INCTR PAX has helped to build palliative care programmes in Nepal, India and Tanzania that provide professional training and improve availability of pain-relieving drugs.

MNJ Palliative Care Program, Hyderabad, India
Beginning in 2006, INCTR, in collaboration with the American Cancer Society (ACS)and Pallium India, has developed the first palliative care program in the state of Andra Pradesh (population of 65 million). This program has been very successful in treating cancer patients with advanced disease at the Mehdi Nawaz Jung Institute of Oncology and Regional Cancer Centre (MNJ). The PAX team continued to give broad support to the program with a number of visits (nurse practitioner and social worker) as well as soliciting and providing financial resources.

The vision of the INCTR PAX program is to help expand access to palliative care in countries with limited resources. The INCTR Challenge Fund is helping INCTR build sustainable palliative care networks and help relieve the suffering of cancer patients in developing countries.