Shija HealthCity, Langol, Imphal West, Manipur-India pcsimphal22@gmail.com Mon - Sat: 10.00am - 5.00pm
Formation of Palliative Care Society Imphal - PCSI
In 2014 , through Facebook, Two classmates regrouped after nearly 29 years. Dr Suresh Kumar and Dr Jugindra were classmates at MBBS in Calicut Medical College in Kerala Dr. Jugindra learnt that Dr Suresh Kumar was instrumental in starting and spreading palliative care services in Keral and other parts of the world. He invited Dr Suresh to Imphal and arranged an awareness talk at Shija Hospitals and Research Institute Langol. Following the talk and realizing the need for the Kerala model of palliative care in Manipur two training sessions were arranged in 2014.
Two sessions of 3 day certified foundation courses were conducted where a toatal of 110 medical professionals including doctors, nurses and volunteers were trained. The participants included doctors from the Manipur state health department , Shija hospitals and others. This training was conducted at Shija Hospitals by faculty from Institute of Palliative Care Medicine, Calicut, the WHO Collaborative Training Institute.
On 16 April 2015 like minded trained persons got together and formed the NGO which was registered as Palliative Care Society Imphal with Dr Kh Palin as the President nad Dr Jugindra S as the secretary.
In May 2015 Dr Jugindra went to IPM Calicut and stayed at the campus to study the working modality of palliative care in Kerala. He gathered all information regarding the working protocols and morphine storage and management. Immediately after his return PCSI decided to start home care visits as pilot project and chose Thangmeiband as the first area of implementation. Club leaders from Thangmeiband were invited and and made aware of the services which was planned. An awareness workshop was also held at a community hall in Thangmeiband. Subsequently, with the help of local clubs 16 patients were identified.
The free home care visits continued regularly, patients being visited without fail till they succumbed. All sorts of care including pain management, daily dressings, catheter change,bed sore treatment and prevention, emergency calls etc were done by the volunteers of PCSI. Also mental, psychological and social support not only to the patients but to the family members were also given. Theservices spread slowly to other parts of Imphal city and at present more than 100 patients have been taken care.
To spread awarenesss of the services and to develop more volunteers many awareness programs were held in schools, colleges, medical colleges, Manipur University, Institiute of Co operative managements Rotary club and many more localities includind Ukhrul, Maram, Kakching, etc.
WHO certified volunteer trainings have been regularly conducted for college students. Two International conferences were held in 2015 and 2017 in the name of PALLICON 1 and PALLICON2.
In 2018 PCSI and IPM, Calicut together with RIMS and Manipur Health Services, under the dynamic leadership of Director Dr K Rajo Singh, and advocated bu Dr Premchandra Yumkhaibam and Dr. Tikashwari , trained nearly 200 doctors, nurse, pharmacists, counselors and paramedicss of Manipur health services. Following the training in 2108 and in 2019 Health and wellness centers in many parts of Manipur started home care visits of bed ridden patients in their area of jurisdiction. PCSI has actively taken part in launching these programs in various centres and also monitor the services rendered by helping the Community Health Officers in all possible ways to continue their services.
To work on awareness, training, research & development, establish, manage and perform activities related directly and indirectly in treating and taking care of patients requiring Palliative care and pain management.
To establish, construct, buy, acquire, run, manage, and take lease property, assets for old age and end of life care centers.
To work on prevention, awareness, early identification, diagnosis, rehabilitation, vocational training, education & training, infrastructure development and all other welfare work for different disabilities.
To work for development of sanitation, cleanliness, personal development, education & training, health awareness, self-employment and skill development for self-sustainability.
According to GLOBOCAN 2018 data, in 2018 there were 11,57,294 new cancer cases in India in both men and women, 7,84,821 deaths and 22,58,208 people living with cancer (within 5 years of diagnosis)
The recent cancer statistics of Manipur shows that The probability of developing lung cancer is highest in both the genders (1 in every 58 males and 1 in every 63 females), followed by stomach cancer in males (1 in every 177 males) and breast cancer in females (1 in every 95 females).
Among males, the proportion of lung cancer (18.9%) is the most, followed by stomach cancer (6.9%) and cancer of the nasopharynx (6.2%). In females, the breast is a leading cancer site (15.4%) followed by lung (14.4%) and cervix uteri (9.5%)
There is a significant increase in annual percent change for cancer in all sites among females (APC=1.5), while for males-a significant decline has been witnessed the APC (-0.6). The rise in breast cancer incidence (APC=4.5) is observed in females, while among males, there has been a significant decrease in stomach cancer APC (-4.9)
Statistics shows that in every one lakh population about 350 persons need palliative care. Manipur therefore has nearly 12000 patients needing palliative care and the number will only increase. To be able to cover all these patients a lot of awareness, training and involvement of society from all walks of life is required. For this purpose PCSI is commited to liaise with all possible organizations and government machinery to bring dignified end of life to the people of not only Manipur but neighboring states and Myanmar. PCSI envisages setting up of WHO recognized training centre in Manipur where large scale training of medical professionals, school and college students and other volunteers can be done as is done in IPM Calicut.
The 3rd PALLICON 2019 is being slotted on 21, 22, 23 November 2019 where delegates and faculty from various countries and WHO officials will converge to discuss and chalk out strategies for wide spread implementation of palliative care services in the region.