St Joseph Hospice in Pakistan
St. Joseph Hospice – Hospice for the elderly and sick in Pakistan
The St. Joseph Hospice in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, offers 60 beds in their inpatient care facilities for those patients who are suffering from chronic diseases such as cancer or for those patients that are permanently disabled. Besides their inpatient facilities, the St. Joseph Hospice also visits, diagnoses and treats an average of 100-120 patients per day in their outpatient unit which is fully equipped with an X-ray machine, laboratory and pharmacy. The Sisters of Charity of St. Jeanne Antide take care of the chronically ill and handicapped patients that stay in the in-patient unit.
For the poorest people in Pakistan, healthcare treatments are very expensive which is why Father Francis O’Leary came up with the idea of starting this hospice in 1964 to ensure that the poorest people in Rawalpindi and surrounding areas would be able to get medical treatment for free.
History
Pakistan had an approximate 24.5% of people living under the national poverty line in 2018, with an estimated 2.4% of people surviving on less than 2 dollars per day. Of every 1’000 babies born in Pakistan, 70 of them do not survive until their 5th birthday and although poverty had been reduced by half since 2000, there is still a large part of the population that cannot get their basic needs met such as food or healthcare due to their lack of income.
The St. Joseph Hospice was started by Father Frances O’Leary in 1964 when he came across a chronically ill woman that was abandoned in the street. He realized that there was a great need to provide medical care and inpatient care for the poor people in Rawalpindi and surrounding areas for free. Since then the St. Joseph Hospice helps and treats an average of 1’500 patients every year as well as providing 60 long-term care patients with constant inpatient care thanks to the Sisters of Charity of St. Jeanne Antide.
Mission
The Project supported by the Caritas Pro Vitae Gradu Charitable Trust
Thanks to our support, the St. Joseph Hospice in Pakistan was able to purchase and install solar panels to lower their annual fixed costs and cover the salaries of their medical staff for 2020 and 2021 therefore ensuring continuous care for their patients.