Bengaluru | September 8, 2026
The Indira Gandhi Institute of Child Health (IGICH) in Bengaluru has launched Punaschethana, a paediatric palliative care centre that the hospital says is the first such facility at an Indian government institution. The centre was inaugurated on September 5 and is scheduled to become functional from September 15.
Punaschethana will provide pain and symptom management for children with serious and life-limiting illnesses. Its services will include relief for cancer-related pain, post-amputation pain, mucositis, dystonia and spasticity associated with serious neurological conditions.
The facility will also provide coordinated psychosocial support for children and their families. IGICH said the programme would include counselling, therapy and follow-up care through its outpatient department. Home-based care services, supported by a dedicated vehicle, are planned to help continue treatment and support for families across Bengaluru.
The centre will have 10 inpatient beds for children requiring intensive symptom relief, stabilisation and coordinated multidisciplinary support. It will be headed by Dr Anuradha Ganigara, associate professor of paediatric anaesthesiology at IGICH.
A study conducted at the hospital found that 52 of 450 neonates admitted to its neonatal intensive care unit during a six-month period—12.2%—were identified as potentially benefiting from palliative care services. The finding was cited as an indication of the need for specialised support within a major public-sector children’s hospital.
Dr Gayatri Palat, professor of pain relief and palliative care and founder of the Pain Relief and Palliative Care Society, Hyderabad, said the unit would address pain, breathlessness and other distressing symptoms among children with serious conditions. She said families would receive counselling and psychosocial support, with care continuing at home through the home-based programme.
Saranam India and the Pain Relief and Palliative Care Society, Hyderabad, are supporting IGICH as capacity-building and implementation partners. Anish Ramachandran of the Saranam Foundation said the hospital receives a large number of patients requiring such services and that capacity and infrastructure could be expanded according to need.
IGICH Director Dr Narendra Babu said counsellors and therapists would provide age-appropriate support to children and their families. Dr Megan Doherty, director of paediatric palliative care at an international organisation, described the initiative as an example of integrating palliative care with curative and life-prolonging treatment rather than limiting it to the final days of life.
The centre is expected to begin functioning on September 15, with inpatient, outpatient and home-care services forming part of the planned programme.
