Palliative care is the active holistic care of patients with advanced disease. Management of pain and other symptoms and provision of psychological, social and spiritual support is important. Palliative care is multidisciplinary and aims to achieve the best quality of life for patients and their families. In this article, the concepts of palliative care and the current issues of particular interest including the debates about physician assisted suicide, end of life issues and the importance of raising awareness of these issues and the need for further development of palliative care skills with doctors are discussed.peer-reviewe
