Rakhi Ghoshal

Ethical issues in death, dying and palliation: the IJME Sixth National Bioethics Conference.

The IJME Sixth National Bioethics Conference (6th NBC), on the theme “Healing and dying with dignity: ethical issues in palliative care, end-of-life care and euthanasia”, was held in Pune, Maharashtra from January 12–15, 2017. Palliative care (PC) and end-of-life care (EOLC) are closely related areas of concern, yet they have been neglected so far. There is an urgent need to discuss these issues in India due to the changing demographics, socioeconomic and work profiles of the population, people’s living conditions and health status, and the contexts of the country’s population. The lack of equitable and comprehensive PC compounds the matter. The extremely inequitable distribution of EOLC facilities across India is causing tremendous distress to a large number of patients and their families, leaving them reeling under the increasing impact of non-communicable diseases and cancers.