While speaking at the World Economic Forum on 2024, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz
Sharif said that treatment for cancer was too costly for the poor population of Pakistan.
The number of relapsed patients and those who have not got medical attention in time
means that there is a huge cancer population in Hyderabad who need palliative care. By
providing palliative care to cancer patients, St. Elizabeth’s Home-Based Palliative Care is
filling a major healthcare gap in Hyderabad and surrounding areas.
With the support of donors and through its dedicated staff, St. Elizabeth’s Home-Based
Palliative Care provides break-through health care in Hyderabad for cancer patients in a way
not found elsewhere in Pakistan. Palliative care nursing given by St. Elizabeth is free. In
December 2024, construction of a Palliative Care Day Centre commenced at St Elizabeth with
the help of Hungary Helps, the overseas aid department of the Hungarian government. This is
another breakthrough in the care of cancer patients.
Due to nursing logistics, St. Elizabeth Hospital restricts its palliative care service to cancer
patients. St Elizabeth is a member of the Asia Pacific Hospice Palliative Care Network (APHN)
and International Association for Hospice and Palliative Care (IAHPC).
In April 2025, St. Elizabeth’s HBPC nursing and medical team made ? visits to the ?
terminally ill cancer patients who are receiving palliative care. ? patients were Christian
and ? were Muslim. ? of these patients were in stage 3 and ? in stage 4. The most common
cases are breast cancer, ovarian cancer and oral cancer. Many are referred to the HBPC
through the oncology out-patients clinic at St Elizabeth Hospital.
There are three male nurses, two female nurses and two doctors in the palliative care team.
It is a 24-hour on-call emergency service as well as regularly scheduled visits. The team is headed by Fariyad Inayat and works closely with Dr Sajid Naqvi, Medical Superintendent at
St. Elizabeth, and Parmeela Sohail, Nursing Supervisor.
St Elizabeth’s Home-Based Palliative Care is given free of cost and with much compassion.
People often choose to support it in memory of their loved ones who have died of cancer.