Queen鈥檚 University and Pallium India have formalized their long-standing partnership to improve palliative care services in India through education, research, and policy initiatives.
Over 96 per cent of people in India are unable to access palliative care. is a registered charity that strives to alleviate the burden of health-related suffering by making palliative care more accessible and equitable. Its institute in Trivandrum is a World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Centre.
The partnership between Queen鈥檚 University and Pallium India began in 2016, when Queen鈥檚 oncologist, Dr. Christopher Booth, travelled to Kerala, India for a six-month sabbatical. After meeting the Founder and Chairman of Pallium India, Dr. M.R. Rajagopal, Dr. Booth was determined to foster a collaboration between Queen鈥檚 and Pallium. This partnership has continued to grow and expand, with support from the Pallium India team and members of the Global Oncology team within the School of Medicine鈥檚 Department of Oncology at Queen鈥檚 Health Sciences.
When asked about the origin of this partnership and its significance today, Dr. Booth stated, 鈥淒r. Raj represents the epitome of humanism in medicine. I have seen him interact with patients, his health care team, trainees, and senior policy-makers with the most incredible blend of vision, intellect, compassion, humility, and curiosity. Over the past five years, the Global Oncology team at Queen鈥檚 has had the privilege of building on our relationship with Pallium India. Our collaborative projects share the common goal of ensuring that all patients globally have access to high-quality palliative care.鈥
The significance of this relationship is echoed by Dr. Rajagopal, often referred to as 鈥榯he father of palliative care in India鈥. He writes, "We have a choice. We can continue to create guidelines and pretend that we have done enough, or we can take pragmatic steps to alleviate the needless health-related suffering of millions in low and middle income countries. Thank you Queen鈥檚 University for caring enough to work with us, scooping that suffering away, one bit at a time.鈥
Currently, there are over seven active projects that Queen鈥檚 and Pallium India are collaborating on.