Help us alleviate Serious Health-Related Suffering in India

Did you Know?

• Less than 4% of India’s 1.4 billion people have access to Palliative care.
• 1 in 5 suicides in India is by a person living with an advanced, chronic, or life-limiting condition.
• Like in most low or middle-income countries, the need for palliative care is greater in India than in the west simply because disease-specific treatment does not reach patients adequately or early enough.
• catastrophic out-of-pocket health expenditure pushes 55 million Indians below the poverty line every year, (Lancet 2018)

An annecdote to reckon

At just 19 years old, a young man from a remote village in Trivandrum saw his life come to a sudden halt after a devastating road accident left him with severe spinal and head injuries. He spent three long months in the hospital, and his mother was advised to bring him for physiotherapy every week—advice that sounded simple, but was nearly impossible to follow.Their home sits at the top of a steep hill, accessible only by steps. Each hospital visit meant four men from the village lifting him onto a stretcher, carrying him down the hill, hiring an auto to the city, and spending an entire week’s wages—every single time. Overwhelmed by the cost and the logistics, the visits slowly stopped.For nearly three years, he remained confined to his home—physically dependent, emotionally withdrawn, and deeply isolated. That’s when our volunteers discovered him and connected him to our home care team. When we first met him, he was depressed, disengaged, and without any meaningful activity or support. We knew care had to reach him—not the other way around.Our team began regular home visits, bringing physiotherapy to his doorstep. With simple but effective tools like parallel bars, and consistent encouragement, his rehabilitation journey restarted—this time, at home. One year later, he stood on his feet again. He became more independent. And most importantly, he smiled again.

This is what accessible, compassionate home-based care can do. And this is the impact your support can make possible.

What is Palliative Care?

Palliative care is the treatment of serious health-related suffering (SHS) which includes the management of pain and other symptoms and addresses the psychological, social, and spiritual suffering of patients and their families. Palliative Care is not restricted to those at the End of Life. However, it encourages such conversations. Life limiting or life threatening conditions includes the usual gamut of cancer and HIV, strokes, congenital anomalies, debilitating and progressive neurological conditions, substance abuse and spinal cord traumas. Palliative care goes beyond the focus of medicine to look at the person and family. 

Let's bust the myth!

A brief about Us:

Founded by Padmashree Dr. M. R Rajagopal in 2003, Pallium India is a national registered charitable trust and NGO located in Trivandrum, Kerala, with the objective of alleviating serious health related suffering of 7-10 million people in India. A leading NGO in the field of palliative care. Our Vision is to stop needless health-related suffering to enable people to wake up to life, love and hope and on a mission to integrate quality palliative care into healthcare by collaborating with, and empowering care seekers, care providers and communities. At our flagship institute (Trivandrum Institute of Palliative Sciences) recognised by the World Health Organisation as a collaboration centre for Training Policy on Access to Pain Relief in Trivandrum, we work based on the following models:

1. Demonstrate quality palliative care reaching people in their homes with the participation of the community. In-patient, Out-patient and Telehealth Services. 

2. Educate professionals (including doctors, nurses, social workers, allied health professionals and volunteers) and the public through online and offline training across the globe.

3. Facilitate partnerships with individuals, organisations and governments across the country, catalysing PC Centres, sensitisation and advocacy and work with central and state governments for necessary legal and policy changes.

The areas we serve, 62 Panchayats and 2 Municipal Corporations to be exact.Our criteria is Any individual or family member with serious health-related suffering. This not only includes the recipient of palliative care, but also the family members, who may be a primary caregiver, a child who is not able to attend school, or having to drop out due to financial hardships, or a family that is not able to afford basic nutrition as a result of high healthcare costs, that do not support their peril.

Our Recognitions:

- World Health Organisation Collaborating Centre for Training and Policy on Access to Pain Relief

- Consultative status with the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC)

- Accreditation by the Govt. of Kerala

- MoU with NHSRC of Ministry of Health Govt. of India

- Successfully worked with 24 NHMs

Impact in 2024-25

The Ask: (We solicit your generous contribution)

• Medicines & Consumables - ₹500 a month ensures essential medicines reach a patient every month. We provide free medical support to our patients through home care and OPD.
• Monthly Food Kits- One food kit costs INR 1500. When the breadwinner of the family falls ill their income stops. We provide monthly food kits to these families to ensure they do not starve. We currently provide monthly food kits to approx 180 families which includes basic grocery items.
• Education Support to Children- INR 6500 a year funds the education of One child. The illness of one person has the potential to ruin the future of the next generation, worsening the spiral of suffering. We prevent this spiral by ensuring that education continues. 
• Home Care - INR 2000 covers a palliative care home visit comprising a multi disciplinary clinical team. Thousands of people cannot access a healthcare facility because they are bedbound, elderly, living alone with no one to accompany them or geographically isolated. At Pallium India, we strive to meet them, where they are, when they need us.

Your generous support ensures:

- Improved patient care and quality of life for patients

- Expand our reach to more patients 

- Ensure continuity of essential palliative care to beneficiaries

- Reduced stress and burden on caregivers and family members 

-Provide for the vocational rehabilitation for patients and their families

- Ensure basic nutritional support for patients and caregivers 

- Ensure children in disease ravaged families continue their education without any gaps

Services provided to our beneficiaries are free. Every contribution counts.

Donate Today OR Start a Fundraiser

To Learn More:

Visit our website: palliumindia.org

List of palliative care centres in India: palliumindia.org/clinics

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To start a fundraiser, contact: donations@palliumindia.org

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