Pediatric Palliative Care in India

Abstract

Palliative care has been developing in India since the mid-1980s. There are 138 hospice and palliative care services spread over the different states and union territories. These are mostly concentrated in large cities, with the exception of Kerala, where they are much more widespread. Considering that less than 1% of the needy people have access to palliative care services in India and there are barriers to the development of these services, it will be a long time before pediatric palliative care assumes importance in India. This chapter highlights the barriers to the development of palliative care services in India with special reference to pediatric palliative care programs. This chapter also gives an overview of the available pediatric palliative programs in India.