Chairman Speaks

        Pain & Palliative Care Trust, Kollam was established in the year 2007 at a time when the extreme deficiency of Palliative Care Service was not in the mind of either governmental or private Sociologists, humanists or philanthropists so much so its birth was felt need for those patients who was in the terminal stage of their life as consequent to dreadful diseases and devastating complications, drug reactions after chermotheraphy, and radiation treatment, and has undergone unimaginable sufferings. Pain & Palliative Care Trust, Kollam took care of such ill fated and disappointed humans, who fulminating foul smelling ulcers on the body, sometimes maggots creep over the ulcers, who suffered incontinence of urine and feaces due to lost nervous control, who were unable to swallow foods due to cancer at food pipe, who were passing stools through artificial anus (ostomy patients), those suffering from asitice, pleural effusion, dehydration and many more problem. Most patients had suffered lacruciating body pain due to secondary cancer in the lungs, liver, intestine, uterus, breasts, kidney, brain, prostate and where not ? They suffered untold miseries, physical pain, mental agony, abandonment of the society and even they were looked upon with stigma by own family members. Treatment, care and     management of such patients at an institution (hospital) was impracticable and impossible due to many hurdles, which one can well imagine.

        The sociologist and philanthropist in the mind of Shri. N.M. Pillai rose to the occasion. He took the challenge. He met people, in and around who would also think and act likewise. He could propagate the message to the people to the extreme need of establishing a Palliative Care Unit at Kollam. He spread the message to the people around by personal contacts, small get-togethers and organised meetings, that Palliative Care is an area where the patients, their families, the society, the scientific advancements and the medical professionals should join to work hand in hand to achieve social fulfillment. Shri. N.M. Pillai could gain and win the confidence of many humanists from many spheres of the society. The ultimate result was the birth of PAIN & PALLIATIVE CARE TRUST, KOLLAM.

            To enumerate the activities of profound model humanitarian services of Shri. N.M. Pillai on individual basis is a fruitless exercise because his activities cannot be accounted separately from that of the service rendered by the Trust. They are interlinked, connected and merged hence inseparable like cotton in a thread.    I do not desire to undermine such an unfruitful and worthless task. However one can easily catch a bird’s eye view of what all have Mr. N.M. Pillai does on account of humanitarian services when gone through the history, establishment, aims, activities, achievements and benefits to the society by the Pain & Palliative Care Trust, Kollam.

Dr. C.V. Prathapan,

CHAIRMAN, Pain & Palliative Care Trust, Kollam

Retired Director of Health Services, Kerala State,.

Participated in both Indo-Pak wars and in charge of refugee camps. Held several covetable positions in Indian Medical Association. He is an Anesthetist and Orthopaedician