Patients with life-limiting diseases deserve dignified care

Khairy (centre) with (from left) palliative care physician Dr Punitha Krishnan, nurse Norbazilah Johari, Hospis Malaysia patient Michael Tan and Hospis Malaysia chairman Datuk Kathleen Chew observing a moment of slience during the Luminaria ceremony at the NGO’s recent charity gala dinner. — Hospis Malaysia

Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin is no stranger to personal loss from a terminal illness.

“I lost my father to cancer when I was 16 years old.

“I lost my mother-in-law to cancer as well.

“As a caregiver and a family member of someone who had a life-threatening terminal illness, I am more than aware of the importance of palliative care,” he said in a speech during the Voices for Hospices charity gala event held in Kuala Lumpur on Oct 14 (2022).

He shared: “My father passed away in KL General Hospital.

“I wish we had palliative care support (then) so that his end of days would have been at home and not in the hospital room.”

Palliative care is a branch of medicine that aims to improve the quality of life of patients facing a life-threatening illness.

Such illnesses include cancer, organ failure, HIV/AIDS and degenerative neurological diseases, among others.

Khairy had said at the launch of the World Hospice and Palliative Care Day 2022 at Rembau Hospital, Negri Sembilan on Oct 1, (2022), that there are an estimated 150,000 patients who require palliative care in Malaysia.

However, the Health Ministry can only cover 10-15% of those patients.

And this number is estimated to continue rising to just under 240,000 by 2030, according to a study published in May (2022) in the BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care journal.

“All Malaysians should have access to palliative care.

“Every Malaysian suffering from a life-threatening disease, from a serious terminal condition, has the right to palliative care and it is important that they receive the best treatment with dignity, regardless of their age, gender, culture, religion or social standing.

“In order for us to do this, we need more support, more resources and more investment,” said the minister.

However, he also admitted that: “The public healthcare budget is stretched.

“When it comes to palliative care, we simply do not have enough to invest and to spend on.

“That is why it is so important that we have an organisation like Hospis Malaysia to work together with us to pick up the slack.”

He added that Hospis Malaysia, which is a non-profit organisation founded in 1991, not only provides palliative care services, but also helps train healthcare workers specialising in palliative care, as well as supporting the caregivers and family members of patients requiring palliative care.

In the public healthcare system, there are palliative care specialists in 13 hospitals across Malaysia.

Nine hospitals have in-patient units, while the other four offer consultative services.

The in-patient wards offer quick treatment of serious symptoms such as pain, shortness of breath, nausea, vomiting or delirium, as well as a place for patients at the end of life who prefer to be cared for in a hospital.

Patients can also be admitted for short periods to give their caregivers and families a short break.

“I kept a philosophy for healthcare, especially under the Health Ministry, which is dignity.

“What I want is for our public healthcare system to continue to provide and continue to receive the investment and the resources for us to be able to treat everyone with dignity throughout the spectrum of care,” Khairy said.

“The future of healthcare should not just be hospitals; it must be in the communities.

“It must be domiciliary care, which what Hospis Malaysia has been doing,” he added.