Oncology and
Palliative Care
Unit, Teaching Hospital (T.H.) Karapitiya, Galle.
The Oncology Unit and Palliative Care Unit at T. H. Karapitiya is a part of the Sri Lanka Health Service that treats patients for free as per universal health care coverage. From time to time, patients do need to pay out of pocket for some tests, supplements, and medications.
The Cancerfund-Galle hopes to come to aid when problems arise in cases where the extra cost is beyond means, for instance, when the patient is young with a young family or elderly, or when generic drugs don’t work, and in cases of rare, especially childhood cancers.
What is
Palliative care?
“Palliative care is the active total care of patients with life-limiting disease, and their families, by a multi-professional team, when the disease is no longer responsive to curative or life-prolonging treatments.” (Twycross, 2003) Palliative care is offered to patients who cannot be completely cured either due to cancer or other non-communicable diseases affecting other organ systems. Palliative care helps patients so they do not suffer in the process of dying and at the time of death. We believe it is vital that patients are provided with a chance at life that is pain free and meaningful.
Palliative Care
Unit, T. H.
Karapitiya
Managed and run by a small team of cancer specialists, the Palliative Care Unit largely serves the rural communities of the Southern Province. Most patients who receive treatment at the Teaching Hospital Karapitiya come from distant rural areas like Tissamaharama, Wellawaya, Ella and Badulla.
Palliative care is distinct from hospice care. Palliative care can begin as soon as a person is diagnosed with an incurable illness and includes end of life care for an illness that cannot be cured. It helps you or the patients you are caring for live as well as possible and helps to die with dignity.
In the instances where the patients are terminally ill, most families do not have the adequate knowledge or resources to provide the care for their loved ones at home. The aims of Palliative care are to make a patient as comfortable as possible. It is a holistic approach that treats not just the disease but treats a patient with an understanding of the needs of the person as a whole. Palliative care helps managing pain, and involves psychological, social and spiritual support for the patient, the family and carers. The Palliative Care Unit at T. H. Karapitya is the first in Sri Lanka to provide these services for patients in a hospital set up.
You can find out more at https://palliativecare.lk