India’s ‘Right to Die With Dignity’ Faces Reality Gap in Palliative Care
Despite India's Supreme Court recognizing the "right to die with dignity" under Article 21 of the Indian Constitution, access to palliative care remains severely limited across the country. According to medical studies, only about 4 percent of the estimated 7 to 10 million Indians needing palliative care actually receive it. Most terminally ill patients and their families remain unaware of options for pain management or legal mechanisms like Advance Medical Directives ("living wills"), leaving relatives to navigate difficult end-of-life decisions without institutional guidance.








