Abstract

The concept of palliative care represents a majorparadigmatic shift in biomedicine. Understanding the sociopoliticalfactors which propelled the introduction of thisparadigm in affluent countries of the West, may help developingcountries to locate its relevance in their own local context. Thepaper identifies these factors, and in their backdrop examinesthe problems involved in creating specialist palliative carecenters in India. It argues that a large number of ethicalcomplexities may arise in a health care system which is alreadyconstrained by scanty resources and shortage of healthworkers. This suggests that mere adoption of westernparadigms in end - of- life care may not help a country unless ithas the infrastructural and organizational set up to implementnew paradigms