The Children’s Palliative Care (CPC) Project of Indian Association of Palliative Care (IAPC) began in Maharashtra, India, in October 2010. The primary objective was to address the needs of children with life-limiting conditions like HIV/AIDS, cancer and thalassemia.
Under the three-year project we launched a sustained campaign to create awareness, train health care workers, establish palliative care services, empower children with life-limiting conditions and their caregivers, and keep up advocacy through the media, regular workshops and meetings with health care professionals, policy makers and government officials.
We identified advocacy and education as the thrust areas.
The project set up three model centres to provide children’s palliative care in Maharashtra. We shall share the experience and data gained from these centres with policy makers to facilitate the extension of paediatric palliative care across the country.