हिंदी
Chandigarh October 10, 2022 :-
An expert talk by Ms. Gilly Burn, Founder Director, Cancer Relief India was organized today on the topic “Introduction to Palliative Care” at Bhatnagar auditorium by colloquium committee under the esteemed patronship of Prof. Raj Kumar, Vice Chancellor, Panjab University, informed Prof. Monica Munjial Singh, Coordinator, Colloquium committee. Prof. Renu Vig, Dean of University Instruction was the Chief Guest of the event. She was delighted as the colloquium lectures started with full zeal after a gap of 2 years due to Covid-19 pandemic.
Ms. Burn has been acknowledged internationally as an inspirational clinical role model, palliative care advocate and for her dynamic, charismatic teaching. Her lifelong passion is to support the development of excellence in Palliative Care in India, through educational initiatives. In 1989, she was asked by World Health Organization (WHO) to undertake a Palliative Care Needs Assessment in India. As a result of her research for the WHO, she founded Cancer Relief India (CRI) in 1990. Since then, she has been undertaking clinical teaching and giving lectures all over globe.
The expert talk was attended by around 200 participants including faculty and students of various departments. Ms. Burn deliberated on various aspects related to Palliative Care. She spoke about how palliative care is an important and essential part of cancer care therapy, which can be provided relatively simply and inexpensively. She also said that with the number of terminally ill people growing over the years, the need to improve the quality of life of these people has gained significant attention. Effective palliative care requires a broad multidisciplinary approach that includes the family and makes use of available community resources. It improves the quality of life of patients and families who face life-threatening illness, by providing pain and symptom relief, spiritual and psychosocial support from diagnosis to the end of life and bereavement.
She addressed the audience in an interactive way giving examples from her own professional journey. She shared the revelations she had with her lifetime of experience working with cancer patients and how palliative care had shown a positive response in these patients. She stressed that terminally ill cancer patients should be given lot of love and compassion by the family members and friends, which provides them comfort in their suffering.
She emphasized that doctors, nurses and health care assistants should provide an empathetic ear so as to build trust and get the best outcome for their patients. She concluded her talk with the inspirational quote of Mahatma Gandhi, the Father of Nation “You must be the change you wish to see in the world”.
