A 55-year-old woman holds her husband, a 67-year-old lung cancer patient. He receives palliative care and pain treatment from an NGO in south Kerala, India.
The Indian government’s restrictive drug policies keep most dying patients from getting morphine. Instead, thousands of sick people are left to die without any pain relief. This essay and multimedia piece take a look at conditions of cancer patients throughout India.
Every year, hundreds of thousands of people in India develop severe, chronic pain due to cancer, HIV/ AIDS, and a variety of other health conditions. Although pain treatment medications and broader palliative care services are effective, safe, and relatively inexpensive, only a small fraction of those suffering severe pain has access to them. You can view the Human Rights Watch photo gallery here: http://www.hrw.org/en/node/86101
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