Palliative Care, also known as end of life care, is a crucially integrated part of person-centered health service. During a terminal and serious illness, palliative care focuses on the person and the family - on improving the quality of life by emphasizing on relief from the symptoms, pain, physical stress, and mental stress.
Relieving serious health-related suffering of an individual, be it physical, psychological, social, or spiritual, is a global ethical responsibility. Thus, whether the cause of suffering is cardiovascular disease, cancer, major organ failure, drug-resistant tuberculosis, severe burns, end-stage chronic illness, acute trauma, extreme birth prematurity or extreme frailty of old age, palliative care may be needed and has to be available at all levels of care. (Source: WHO)