Express news service
Posted online: Monday , November 05, 2007 at 12:00:00
Updated: Sunday , November 04, 2007 at 11:33:56
Updated: Sunday , November 04, 2007 at 11:33:56
Pune, November 4 The figures are overwhelming: In the last 13 years, as many as 2,166 patients have been treated from the various stages of cancer. Of these, at least 256 were registered over the last year. Stunningly, taking care of a patient each day cost just Rs 85.85.
For the hundreds out there struggling financially and emotionally and having to take care of their loved ones in the terminal stages of cancer, the city-based Care India Medical Society (CIMS) was set up to provide a social support system in preventive oncology, early detection of cancer and cancer terminal care. To their credit, the organisation today stands out as a beacon of hope. Since its inception as Satseva in 1994, the CIMS initiative has come a long way in providing free pain management to the needy cancer patients in advanced stage of illness.
At a unique gathering on Sunday, the medical fraternity got together to remember the departed as also to address the concerns of those who are now stepping out into the long and arduous path leading to definite death.
Bollywood superstar Shashi Kapoor, who attended the function titled Diwali with a Difference, made an appeal to people to contribute towards the cause. Im privileged to be part of such an initiative. It is my personal appeal to you to extend financial support to this institution so as to help alleviate human suffering, said Kapoor, who has been associated with the initiative for nine years.
About a dozen relatives of patients and in a few cases patients themselves gave testimony of the dark and lonely days that the medical society helped them battle, with medicines and emotional support by handholding the family members who often turn out to be more devastated than the patients. It is a combination of the science of pain management and the art of coping with the emotional trauma, said Major General G Rajagopal, dean and deputy commandant, Armed Forces Medical College, involved in the CIMS initiatives.
The patient outreach programme for cancer palliative care is finding takers in many parts of the country with doctors getting in touch with Care India to roll out similar initiatives in places as far-flung as Secunderabad.
Publication : IE ; Section : National ; Pg : 2; Date : 6/11/07
URL :http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/Taking-care-of-cancer-patients-at-just-Rs-85-a-day/235964/