End-of-life issues.

Abstract

In the Western world we have not fully accepted the fact that dying is indeed part of the process of living. Even today in the 21st century, physicians who have historically been taught to diagnose and treat disease with the expectation of cure, still regard death as a failure. We need to be reminded of the 15th-century definition of medical care, "To cure sometimes, to relieve often, to comfort always." We must realise that we cannot defy death and that every individual on earth has no choice but to travel the journey, be it long or short, from birth to ultimate death.