Palliative Care in India: AIIMS Report Reveals Urgent Need for Home-Based Support
Many people in North Delhi go through a tough time due to a poor understanding of palliative care. A new study warns that hundreds of patients in North India, mainly Delhi, undergo severe pain simply because they misunderstand what it is. It is poorly integrated into routine healthcare. Yet the same study gives rare and encouraging proof that it can be reversed quickly if the doctors and nurses are provided with training and institutional support.
Palliative care is very crucial for many Indians living with cancer, organ failure, and dementia, as it helps them sleep better, breathe easier, and live with dignity. But the need vastly exceeds availability. India observes a total of about 7-10 million people who require care, but only approximately 4% of them receive it. In North India and the NCR, the gap is wider because referrals arrive quite late.
Researchers say there is a misunderstanding that it is only for people at crucial stages of illness, and this delays the support the patient requires. An estimated meta-analysis shows that India’s palliative care need is 6.2 per 1000 population, highlighting the unmet demand.
AIIMS Delhi led a multi-centre study that evaluated the three-phase palliative-care capacity-building programme run across North India from 2023 to 2025. This programme aimed to improve the quality of the care and to reach the regions where 12% of older adults required palliative care.
Doctors and nurses were trained in palliative care, including pain relief, symptom management, and communication, across nine centres and nearly 90 district hospitals, including Delhi, Jammu, Shrinagar, Chandigarh, Ludhiana, and Udaipur. This helped hospitals achieve smoother workflows, better documentation, and more confident providers, resulting in faster pain relief and fewer days of unmanaged pain for patients.
AIIMS Delhi, AIIMS Rishikesh, AIIMS Nagpur, NCI-Jhajjar, the Himalayan Institute of Medical Sciences, medical colleges in Jodhpur, Varanasi, Udaipur, Ludhiana, and Chandigarh, as well as government hospitals in Jammu, came together for this project, reflecting a training model that can work in varied settings. But the study also showed risks; some hospitals struggled with data recording and management, which limited insights into who received the care and why.
Dr. Sushma Bhatnagar, the Principal Investigator of the project, said that constant observation and on-ground support for steady progress. She also said that “they aim to combine palliative care within emergency departments so that district doctors can manage pain and symptoms locally. This will reduce unnecessary transfers, and patients will receive comfort at home instead of in ICUs.This way they’ll be closer to their families.”
According to the researchers, this model can be implemented across India and also in the developed countries, where the palliative care system is uneven. They say there is a need for training, better digital documentation, and including palliative care in medical and nursing education.
