TLC until death
No quickening or slowing of death Mercy killing has no place in palliative care Palliative care doesn’t stop at point-ofdeath but extends to family and carers
‘Where O death is your victory? Where O death is your sting?’ it is queried in the Bible, but as human beings some of us are terrified or fearful of death while others are puzzled as to what lies beyond the grave.
But death is a certainty of life, it is inevitable and for some it seems closer than for others.
Not only these men, women and children who seem to be closer to death but also their families are the tender and gentle focus of World Hospice and Palliative Care Day which was marked yesterday with a half-day programme on ‘Caring beyond cure’ organized by the Palliative Care Association of Sri Lanka at the BMICH .
With the powerful theme of this day being ‘ Universal Health Coverage ( UHC) and Palliative Care – Don’t leave those suffering behind’, Consultant Clinical Oncologist Dr. Shama Goonatillake attached to the Batticaloa Teaching Hospital says the sub-themes centre on the three Cs. Count – who needs palliative care and who is covered? Care – which services are covered? Cost – who will pay for palliative care which is part of UHC and how will they do it? Death may not have a sting, but in Sri Lanka, the sting is evident with regard to the non-facilities for the provision of palliative care, the Sunday Times learns.
“We are just developing palliative care and are still in the ‘ transient period’,” says Dr. Goonatillake, explaining that as a country we began looking at this vital segment only about six years ago. When there is a terminal illness most clinicians assume that “there is no other treatment” after a certain stage, but things have changed over the years globally with modern palliative care and efforts are going in the right direction in Sri Lanka now.
He reiterates that the WHO definition