Palliative Care in Malaysia

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Palliative care in Malaysia is impressively advanced given its relatively recent emergence as a recognized medical specialization.

Hospis Malaysia provides professional palliative care to those living with life-limiting illnesses which typically include cancers, Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), organ failure or progressive neurological conditions.

Palliative care works alongside curative treatment, but it correspondingly increases as curative measures decline. The heart of its service lies in its philosophy – which is to offer palliative care that effectively addresses the various needs of patients and their families, and in the processes, ensures comfort and dignity for those living with the illness, as well as the best quality of life for them and for their loved ones.

Hospis Malaysia services include a homecare programme, daycare for patients and loan of medical equipment.  All the services and facilitities are offered free-of-charge. The medical team of palliative care doctors and nurses make approximately 1,000 home visits a month.

Dr Edin Hamzah, the visionary Chief Executive of Hospis Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur, is keen to point out, there are formidable challenges to be overcome if the huge and ever-increasing needs and ever-increasing needs of local communities are to be met.

He says: “Malaysian healthcare needs a paradigm shift both in terms of planning services as well as teaching doctors and nurses, all in the realization that at the root of all illness, is a patient and a family that simply wants to have their fears understood, their suffering to be emphatised, their words listened to and their lives to have meaning. Palliative care can do this.”  

Dr Ednin and his nurse put these words into practice. As well as providing medication and advising on physical on physical treatments, they spend a great deal of time just getting to know the patients concerned. At no point do they appear to be in a rush. Dr Ednin give patients plenty of time to ask questions but does not force the patients to say anything. He also speak to their families in a gentle manner but does not avoid “difficult” questions and is honest when he does not know an answer.  

In short, patients and their families were treated with great respect; as “whole” people who were gravely afflicted and affected by illness but not defined by it. Whether a person with a life-limiting illness dies in a hospice or at home, the aim remains the same: to give value and quality to that individual’s life, however long or short it is, by controlling the symptoms of their illness – especially pain – in a way which neither hastens nor postpones death.

What better way to died than peacefully, painlessly, and surrounded by friends and family. Such a death is possible for many more of us that we realize. But we need to think about it . Now.

Hospis Malaysia needs about RM3 million to dund the operating expenses annually.

More information can be found on http://www.hospis-malaysia.org