In 2005, with a small group of like-minded individuals, Dr Abhijit Dam started KOSISH to provide palliative care services to the terminally ill and the elderly. He took out a loan from his provident fund account and purchased a plot of land in a rural setting to start his hospice.

From focussing on therapeutics, statistics and methodologies, Dr Dam made a spiritual shift in perspective where “I woke up.”  He realised that for a palliative care provider, the transition from a ‘treater’ to a ‘healer’ happens when the operating principle is compassion.

The team focused primarily on home-based care carried out with long and arduous journeys over a 300 km radius. This approach was borne of Dr Dam’s conviction that one’s own home is where a patient is best treated and that the involvement of all family members in the care of a terminally ill patient makes a huge difference to morale and attitude.

That was the start needed. I embraced palliative medicine like a long lost friend… I became low on “tech”and more on “hands”.

It became evident soon that the larger issue of poverty in rural India had to be addressed as well, including hygiene, nutrition, basic health education and preventive palliation measures like periodic health checkups for the rural elderly.

Today, in addition to palliative care, KOSISH provides training of young rural women in hygiene and nutrition, value education and mid-day meals for rural children, hosts workshops and conferences in its main centre. The Hospice had also tied up with IIT, Kharagpur for a Senior Citizen Programme. A pilot programme has been activated to train rural female youth to become palliative nursing aides at the grassroots level.

The work has been made possible through private donations. And a lot remains to be accomplished. For Dr. Abhijit Dam and his team, the journey continues… Jharkhand today, India tomorrow.