3 Keralites for Mission Palliative Care in Rural West Bengal

Kozhikode :

Three Keralite Civil Service officers would soon add a new chapter in palliative care in rural West Bengal, inspired by similar initiative in their home state.

‘Sanjeevani’, an end-of-life care project to be launched in September in the Nadia district of WB, is the brain child of IAS officers P B Salim and Bijin Krishna and Amarnath, an IPS officer. The project has been conceptualised by the Kozhikode based Institute of Palliative Medicine (IPM), the training, research and outreach arm of Pain and Palliative Care Society, which pioneered community volunteering in end-of-life care.

Salim, hailing from Muvattupuzha, is currently working as the District Magistrate of Nadia while Amarnath, a native of Moozhikkal in Kozhikode, is the ASP of South 24 Parganas. Bijin from Meppayur in Kozhikode is the Assistant Collector of Murshidabad district. “Both Amarnath and Salim had associated with IPM years ago. Salim suggested starting a palliative care programme in West Bengal. He along with Amarnath then approached me. Later, Bijin also extended support to the initiative,” said Dr Suresh, director of IPM, which provides technical support for the project.

According to Salim, Sanjeevani is aimed at improving the quality of life of the terminally ill in Nadia.

“The project intends to introduce a new culture of providing care for the bed-ridden patients utilising a network of physicians, nurses and volunteers,” he said.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Kerala / by Shafeeq Alingal / July 25th, 2014

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