THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has said that the state has created a model of palliative care under which volunteers can register to look after patients who are bedridden or suffering from terminal illnesses.
The registration process for volunteers under the Kerala Care Universal Palliative Service Scheme has started, the CM said in a Facebook post on Friday.
He said that volunteers can register on the site meant for volunteers and provide their details.
"Anyone who is willing to set aside at least one hour a week for a patient in need of palliative care can register for this," he said.
Vijayan said that his government's efforts to ensure palliative care for bedridden patients have attracted world attention and the Kerala Care scheme was an expansion of such interventions.
Kerala Care aims to ensure care for all those who may not be bedridden but have terminal illnesses, he said.
"For this, the registration process for patients in need of palliative care, organisations and nurses ready to care for them is underway. So far, 1,34,939 people have registered as inpatients in need of palliative care as part of the campaign," the CM said in his post.
With the launch of the next phase of the extensive campaign -- the registration of volunteers -- we are ushering in a major change in the field of palliative care, he said.