New #LaughAtDeath Campaign Attempts to Make Indians Accept Death

MUMBAI, March 30, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

The Indian Association of Palliative Care (IAPC), today, launched a new public awareness campaign on palliative or end-of-life care that will help Indians #LaughAtDeath. In India, death is a taboo topic, while people are uncomfortable to discuss it which leaves terminally ill patients and their families confused, lonely and often depressed. Palliative or end-or-life care focuses on making terminally ill patients comfortable during their last days. It includes counseling for the patient and their family members which help them accept death, make the most of their last days and actually enjoy them.

In a society where death isn't spoken about, the #LaughAtDeath campaign featured terminally ill patients that performed a stand-up comedy show for their families and doctors, thus demonstrating that palliative care helps patients get comfortable with death and even joke about it. These patients were selected from hundreds of terminally ill patients that IAPC members support daily, and were trained by India's best stand-up comedians - Kunal Kamra, Kashyap, Vinay Sharma, Punit Pania, Shriram R and Anand Reghu.

The campaign has broken on Twitter through the first ever comedy show on Twitter and will be amplified on social and digital media through a partnership with The Logical Indian, a platform that leads news and issues that often miss the limelight in the traditional Indian media. Radio Mirchi is also joining hands to bring the #LaughAtDeath campaign to radio.

The campaign is supported by the website - http://www.endoflifecareindia.com and social media platforms:
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/EndOfLifeCareIndia/, Twitter - https://twitter.com/EndOfLifeCareIN and YouTube - http://bit.ly/2n9aUmB which are equipped to counsel patients and connect them to palliative care centers across India.

Amit Akali, Chief Creative Officer of Medulla, the healthcare-specialist advertising agency that developed the campaign, said, "This was the most difficult (almost impossible) project of our lives. Made easy and possible by the patients, eager to share their stories and make the most of their last days. They moved us with their courage and floored us with their live performances, some of them taking a stage for the first time in 85 years. They opened their lives to the stand-up comics and rehearsed hard for days."

Praful Akali, the Founder & MD of Medulla, added, "This is not just a campaign but an ongoing project and platform for terminally ill patients to share their stories and spread awareness on Palliative care. Loved it, because it brings alive the power of palliative care in a real way. It is the strongest demo campaign you'll ever see."

Dr. Mary Ann Muckaden, President of IAPC, concluded, "We are looking forward to increase access to palliative care in India with Medulla - right now only 3% of cancer patients get even simple pain relief. Hopefully, this campaign will change that. A big thank you to the patients for sharing their stories, the comedians who trained them, film-maker Rahul Sengupta for capturing their performances, the venue and media partners who supported us in creating awareness."

About Indian Association of Palliative Care (IAPC):

Palliative care is the active total care applicable from the time of diagnosis, aimed at improving the quality of life of patients and their families facing serious life-limiting illness. The Indian Association of Palliative Care (IAPC) was set up on March 16, 1994 in consultation with the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Government of India as a national forum to connect, support and motivate individuals and institutions involved in palliative care. IAPC is today a 100,000 strong association of the finest nursing and healing hands of the nation who are committed to bring about a positive change by reaching palliative care to every life that needs it.

About Medulla Communications:

Medulla Communications is the fastest-growing healthcare communications agency in India - now #2 and the youngest in the top 5. It is the only integrated healthcare communications agency in the country with planning, creative, medical and digital expertise.

This project follows up on the 2016 campaign, Last Words to Nurses, which was one of the most awarded healthcare advertising campaigns across the world. In fact, it was one of only 15 campaigns across the world that won a Gold at Cannes Lions which award creativity in advertising and a Gold at the Effies which awards effective advertising. 

For more, please visit: http://www.medulla.in

Media Contact:
Rekha Hindlekar
Sr. Consultant, Consumer Healthcare
Medulla Communications Pvt. Ltd.
[email protected]
+91-9819852999