The Catholic Church has set up the first-ever palliative care centre in Nagaland, a Christian-majority state in northeast India.
The St. Joseph Pain and Palliative Care Centre at Chumukedima, near the state’s commercial hub of Dimapur, was inaugurated by Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio, a Baptist Christian, on April 24.
The centre is an initiative of the Diocese of Kohima and will be run by the Medical Sisters of St Joseph, Nirmala Province from Kerala, known for their dedicated service to the sick, the poor and the least of the brethren irrespective of caste and creed.
“This first fully fledged palliative care centre in Nagaland intends to provide service free of cost. The state government will extend all possible help to carry out this gratuitous service to the people,” announced Rio.
Nagaland, a predominantly Baptist Christian stronghold, along with the southern state of Tamil Nadu has the highest percentage of elderly people living alone without a spouse, children or any other support, according to the first Longitudinal Ageing Study in India released in 2021.