Today, On 13th October, The Supreme Court directed the Centre to submit a report within three weeks on enforcing the 2017 palliative care guidelines, ensuring proper care for terminally ill patients as part of the national health programme, hearing resumes November 25.
The Supreme Court granted the Centre three weeks to report on the implementation of the 2017 palliative care guidelines issued by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
A bench consisting of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta made this ruling while hearing a petition that calls for authorities to provide palliative care for terminally ill individuals as part of the national health program.
The case is scheduled for further hearing on November 25.
Palliative care refers to specialized medical support for individuals facing serious and terminal health conditions. Senior advocate Jayna Kothari, representing the petitioner, highlighted the 2017 guidelines titled “National Programme for Palliative Care.”
She pointed out that while the Centre submitted a brief affidavit, it failed to address compliance with the guidelines.
She remarked,
“In fact, the guidelines say that at the district level, you have to set up a palliative care team and every state has to have a state palliative protection cell. Let them say how many states have set up the cell,”
Kothari also requested information on how many public health care centers have a palliative care team.
The bench acknowledged in its order that a copy of the guidelines has been provided to the counsel representing both the Centre and the states involved.
The bench stated,
“The additional solicitor general and the senior counsel appearing for the Union of India are granted three weeks’ time to obtain instructions with regard to the implementation of these guidelines not only by the Union but also after collating the respective data from the respective states and apprise this court of the status,”
In March of the previous year, the Supreme Court had requested responses from the Centre and other parties regarding the petition.
It instructed the Centre to submit a comprehensive response detailing the steps taken and the existing policies for administering palliative care to terminally ill patients.