| EDITORIAL |
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| Year : 2020 | Volume
: 9
| Issue : 7 | Page : 3169-3175 |
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Community-based palliative care during the COVID 19 pandemic
Shrikant Atreya1, Raman Kumar2, Naveen Salins3
1 Department of Palliative Care and Psycho-Oncology, Tata Medical Center, Kolkata, West Bengal, India
2 Academy of Family Physicians of India, New Delhi, India
3 Department of Palliative Medicine and Supportive Care, Kasturba Medical College, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, Karnataka, India
Correspondence Address:
Dr. Shrikant Atreya
Consultant in Palliative Medicine, Department of Palliative Care and Psychooncology, Tata Medical Center, 14 MAR (E-W), New Town, Rajarhat, Kolkata, West Bengal - 700160
India
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None  | Check |
DOI: 10.4103/jfmpc.jfmpc_1144_20
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Novel Coronavirus (COVID 19) has usurped human peace and mobility. Since December 2019, the virus has claimed the lives of 87,816 people across the globe as of April 9, 2020 with India reporting a high case fatality of 3.4%. Among the vulnerable population, elderly people, and patients with comorbidities such as diabetes, chronic life-threatening illnesses, such as COPD and advanced malignancies are susceptible to COVID-19 infection and may have poor clinical outcomes. Considering the imbalance in demand and supply of healthcare resources, initiating palliative care will be essential to alleviate the suffering of such patients. The current paper deliberates on the following aspects of palliative care delivery in the community; the need for palliative care in a pandemic crisis, the role of telemedicine in palliative care delivery in the community, the vital role of a family physician in providing primary palliative care in the community and a “wholistic” community palliative care package to serve the needy in the community.
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