ICMR project for capacity building of palliative care launched in Jammu

Jammu, Mar 14 (PTI) The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) Project on Pain and Palliative Care was launched at the Government Hospital Gandhi Nagar here on Tuesday with a focus on capacity building to reduce the suffering of patients with chronic debilitating conditions.

The project was launched in collaboration with the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi with nine other premier medical institutions of north India, Medical Superintendent, Government Hospital Gandhi Nagar, Dr Parveen Yograj said.

Palliative care is an interdisciplinary medical care-giving approach aimed at optimising the quality of life and mitigating suffering among people with serious, complex and often terminal illnesses.

Yograj said the hospital’s pain and palliative care specialist Dr Rohit Lahori will be in charge of the project, which will be applicable for three years and headed by the chief of the National Cancer Institute and Head Of Department, Palliative Care, AIIMS, New Delhi, Dr Sushma Bhatnagar.

“The project is for capacity building of palliative care services in 10 premier institutes of north India to reduce suffering in patients with chronic debilitating conditions. The project will focus on an uplift of the palliative care services in all the 10 district hospitals of the Jammu division by capacity building and training of manpower,” Yograj said.

He said the project was launched under the guidance of the Secretary, Health and Medical Education, Bhupinder Kumar, who assessed the palliative care health services in the district hospitals in September 2022.

“Through constant efforts of Director, Health Services, Jammu Saleem Ur Rehman, the Government Hospital Gandhi Nagar is the only district hospital to be selected amongst the other premier hospitals of north India, such as AIIMS-Rishikesh, AIIMS-Jodhpur, Banaras Hindu University and DMC-Ludhiana,” he said.

The palliative and geriatric services were inaugurated by Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on March 31 last year in all districts of Jammu.

So far, 20 medical officers and an equal number of staff nurses have been trained in the Certificate Course in Essentials of Palliative Care (CCEPC) through the Indian Association of Palliative Care.

“The palliative care staff at the Government Hospital Gandhi Nagar is trained from AIIMS-New Delhi, in collaboration with the Asia Pacific Hospice Palliative Care Network (APHN), Singapore and LIEN, the UK,” the medical superintendent said.

He said a virtual meeting was held to launch the most-awaited ICMR research project in palliative care, chaired by Bhatnagar and attended by the institution in-charge and in-charge of palliative care centres of excellence of 10 institutions.