India – Kumudini Devi Hospice
and Mandara Children’s Hospice
Photography Harsha Vadlamani/Two Worlds Cancer
Outside the hospice, Vasavi shares a quiet moment with her husband Ravinder. Not far away, inside the children’s hospice Uzaif plays with his cousin Zeenat as she lies on her bed.
Tucked away from the main road, the Kumudini Devi Hospice and the Mandara Hospice for Children provide compassionate palliative and end-of-life care when that is the only option. The setting is an oasis of calm and compassion surrounded by a bustling city of more than 10.5 million in central India.
For patients like Ravinder, 38, and Zeenat, 19 months, these hospice provide comfort and pain relief, and emotional support for their families, as they face life-limiting illnesses.
Background
Both hospices provide care for free – serving Hyderabad, the capital of Telangana, and the surrounding region of more than 25 million.
They were the vision of Dr. Gayatri Palat and her colleagues at the Pain Relief and Palliative Care Society. Two Worlds Cancer Collaboration was one of the original four partners that provided start-up, financial support for this vision. Dr. Palat leads our Hyderabad-based, India programs.