New Delhi, Dec 2 : A total of 600 districts in the country have been providing palliative care to patients suffering from chronic life-limiting illnesses, the Union Health Minister informed the Parliament on Tuesday.

The government launched the National Programme for Palliative Care (NPPC) in 2012 to provide pain relief and symptom management for patients with life-limiting illnesses like cancer and AIDS.

â??Six hundred districts have been covered under the National Program for Palliative Care (NPPC) till October 2025,â?? Nadda said in Rajya Sabha.

The Minister informed that Madhya Pradesh is leading, with 51 functional palliative care centres, followed by Gujarat with 41 and Rajasthan with 42 centres.

Further, over 12.6 lakh patients availed OPD services at the Palliative care centres in 2025-26 (till October 25), Nadda said.

More than 19 lakh patients were visited at home, and another 3.3 lakh patients availed inpatient (in-hospital) palliative care during the same period, the Minister added.

Apart from the services available under NPPC, palliative care is also available at AIIMS, Medical Colleges, and Hospitals.

"The basic palliative care training is included in the undergraduate medical education (MBBS) curriculum in India as a mandatory component," Nadda said.

The change was introduced as part of the National Medical Commission's Competency-Based Medical Education (CBME) curriculum, which became effective in August 2019.

Palliative care was recognised as a medical subspecialty by the erstwhile Medical Council of India (MCI) in 2010. Specialist training in Palliative Medicine (MD Palliative Medicine) is provided as a three-year supervised postgraduate programme in National Medical Commission (NMC) recognised institutions.

Furthermore, the Indian Nursing Council (INC) has included a 20-hour mandatory module on palliative care in the 4th semester (second year) of the B.Sc. Nursing curriculum to enhance knowledge and sensitivity among nursing students.

Palliative care is also one of the 12 essential services delivered at the Ayushman Arogya Mandir (AAM) level, encompassing preventive, promotive, curative, rehabilitative, and palliative care, Nadda said.

/IANS