People living in poverty around the world often face illness and death without access to palliative care or effective pain relief. Scotland’s oldest international healthcare charity, EMMS International, has helped end needless pain and suffering through developing palliative care services in Nepal.
EMMS’s three-year project in rural Western Nepal has just ended. It exceeded expectations by reaching over 84,000 people with compassionate care and support. This project was made possible thanks to generous donations that were matched pound for pound by the UK government through UK Aid Match.
“As Scotland’s oldest international healthcare charity, we’re proud of the work being achieved thanks to the support of hundreds of individuals and groups. Match funding from the UK government has helped these donations reach even further to provide care in incredibly remote communities.” Says Dr Cathy Ratcliff, CEO of EMMS International.
In addition to providing improved clinical care to more than 14,000 patients with life-limiting illnesses, the project has helped develop caring communities by working with healthcare volunteers, schools, and community groups.
Ramesh’s Story
A fall from scaffolding at age 17 changed Ramesh’s life forever. Absent doctors, delayed surgery and insufficient rehab, left him very sick and without hope. His mother, Lakshmi, is his main carer, and life at home is hard, as he relies on support from the government and well-wishers for food.
There is a growing community of care around Ramesh. Community Nurse Basnet, of EMMS partner Green Pastures Hospital, ensures both Ramesh and Lakshmi are getting the support they need. Visits to their home, up a steep slope by an uneven path, bring care and remove isolation.
Dr Dum Kumari Pun now oversees Ramesh’s care. Since his first visit to GPH, he has had access to the right support and essential medicines. The links from family through communities to well-equipped healthcare facilities build a much-needed support network. EMMS International’s Sunita project has strengthened caring communities in Nepal to support people like Ramesh and their families.
Advocacy and caring societies
The focus on holistic care means advocacy is not just for the integration of services into health systems, but the integration of palliative care principles into communities and society as a whole.
Dr Dan Munday, palliative care consultant at GPH advisor to the Sunita project, explains how compassionate communication skills can enhance other areas of health care too.
“We are now gaining pretty good evidence that palliative care is a way of enabling people to develop those interpersonal skills, which then go across the whole practice. And they’re not just to do with end of life care or people with advanced illnesses but actually it’s something that strengthens your work with anybody.”
The Sunita project has worked with healthcare professionals, but also volunteers, teachers and community groups. Local voices with a better understanding of palliative care needs, are better able to advocate for the care they deserve, both on a personal level and with healthcare decision makers at different levels.
As well as strengthening community-based support which is holistic in nature, the Sunita project has also built a foundation of evidence for advocacy. Dr. Bishnu Dutta Paudel Bucha, Professor of Medical Oncology and President of the Nepalese Association of Palliative Care is certain that the work of the Sunita project is shaping the way for palliative care across the whole of Nepal. “This finding of the Sunita project is very, very helpful if we really can use it to amplify in other districts of Nepal”.
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EMMS International is Scotland’s longest serving international healthcare charity. Working in Malawi, India, Nepal, Rwanda and the UK to improve lives through compassionate healthcare. The organisation in Scotland, founded in 1841, counts David Livingstone amongst its earliest members.
UK Aid Match doubled donations to EMMS International’s 2020/21 Every Girl Matters appeal, which highlighted the impact of limited access to palliative care on people with life-limiting illnesses and those who care for them.
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