EMMS International, Scotland’s oldest international healthcare charity, is calling for urgent action to support thousands of people facing their final days with no access to pain relief or professional care. This follows a Channel 4 report highlighting a lack of palliative care in Malawi, which prompted support for the charity’s appeal.
Cathy Ratcliff, CEO and Director of International Programmes, said: “By 2030, a 70% increase in annual cancer cases and deaths is predicted in Africa, and many of those patients will not receive professional healthcare or pain relief unless we act now.”
EMMS International is also highlighting the plight of patients in Nepal, who are living with non-communicable, life-limiting diseases. Through its three-year UK Aid Match project with International Nepal Fellowship, the charity has trained 1,048 individuals to address unmet palliative care needs in their communities, and has established a morphine supply system to remote villages.
One of the beneficiaries is Rima, 17, whose mother is living with multi-system atrophy – a rare, incurable, degenerative condition. She said: “Before you helped me, all our family savings had been spent on my treatment. My condition has hampered my children’s future, and my relatives suggested that my husband should re-marry.”
EMMS International has been able to bring Rima’s mother under the care of the palliative care team at Green Pasture’s Hospital. However, the charity fears that over a third of the population in Nepal could face their final days without medical attention or pain relief.
A similar situation is occurring in India, where a palliative care service is facing closure due to a lack of funding and a lack of access to essential drugs like Morphine. EMMS International has been asked to provide an annual shortfall of £80,000 to keep the service running.
Dr. Ashita Singh, Lead Doctor, said: “The communities served are very marginalised and impoverished. The service is being rendered in response to a huge unmet, under-recognised need to affirm human dignity. Our greatest achievement is that our doors are still open to the poor and our wards are full of these precious people.”
EMMS International is urging people to donate to its appeal to help those facing their final days in isolation and without pain relief or professional care. For more information, visit emms.org/care.
Derick is an experienced reporter having held multiple senior roles for large publishers across Europe. Specialist subjects include small business and financial emerging markets.