Push for palliative care
UP THE ANTE: With rise in patients with chronic diseases, there is a pressing need to expand the service and train more specialists for the task
KUALA LUMPUR: THE government is working to provide palliative care in more hospitals and health clinics in the country, said Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam, recently.
He said palliative care — which is a medical approach to improving the quality of life for patients with life-threatening illnesses and their families — has become increasingly important as cases of chronic diseases have increased in tandem with the life span of the population.
“We have come to a stage where people are living longer but the quality of life can be questioned.
“It is estimated that each year at least 32,000 Malaysians require palliative care in the last few months before death.
“There are 35 hospitals in the country offering palliative care; six offer specialist palliative care while 29 are offering palliative care under other specialities such as general medicine and surgery.
“There are only seven trained palliative medicine specialists and nine are still undergoing training.
“With our population of 30 million, we should have at least 60 specialists to meet a ratio of 1 per 500,000 population.
“The government is providing more training opportunities in palliative care and we hope more physicians will choose to train in palliative care,” said Dr Subramaniam at the launch of the palliative care symbol and photography exhibition organised by Hospis Malaysia to raise awareness of palliative care among Malaysian.
The exhibition, which was held at Publika Mall, ran for five days, from April 25.
It featured a number of palliative care patients and their families as well as local celebrities, who had come to support the campaign.
Among the celebrities were Bront Palarae, Daphne Iking, Hans Isaac, Fatimah Abu Bakar, Sharifah Amani, Sharifah Aleya, Sheila Majid, Yasmin Hani and Datuk Yasmin Yusuff.
Hospis Malaysia chairman Datuk Richard Robless said they hoped the exhibition would shed some light on how palliative care can improve the quality of life of patients living with life-limiting illnesses.
“We also hope the patients’ photographs and stories will assist in dispelling common myths about palliative care.
“For example, palliative care is not just for cancer patients but also for those with illnesses such as HIV/AIDS, degenerative diseases and organ failure; it is for patients of all ages, not just the elderly; and at any stage of their illness, and not just at the final stages of life,” said Robless.
Palliative care Australia chief executive officer Dr Yvonne Luxford and professor of palliative medicine of Cardiff University School of Medicine and member of the House of Lords in Britain Baroness Ilora Gillian Finlay were also present.
(From right) Datuk Richard Robless, Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam, palliative care patient Hasmah Ibrahim, her husband Shaharudin Jaafar, and Baroness Ilora Gillian Finlay with the new symbol for palliative care. Pic by Saifullizan Tamadi
