Tata Memorial felicitates child cancer survivors helping patients
Dr Banavali said that the 14 survivors had been assisting the department in many ways. “They not only help in fundraising but also in counselling patients, and helping them cope with the disease,” he said. “They also counsel relatives, interact with paediatric cancer survivors and generally spread awareness. Since they have been through the journey themselves, they can contribute in a much better way”
MUMBAI: For the last seven years, 28-year-old Anamika Soni has been religiously visiting Tata Memorial Hospital twice a week for two hours to teach paediatric cancer patients and survivors different dance forms. The Navi Mumbai resident, who has a MA in Kathak dance, was once a cancer patient at the hospital, and believes that dance is an activity that is immensely therapeutic for these children.
Anamika is one of the 14 paediatric cancer survivors who will be felicitated on February 14 by the hospital for her active assistance to the ImPaCCT foundation (Improving Paediatric Cancer Care and Treatment). ImPaCCT was established by the paediatric department in 2010 to provide treatment and support to every paediatric patient regardless of their family background.
“Till 20 years ago, we did not have many paediatric cancer survivors,” said Dr Shripad Banavali, paediatric oncologist and director of academics at Tata Memorial Centre (TMC). “Now with the survivor numbers going up and with the advent of social media, they are coming together and helping the department. In the best cancer centres in the world, survivors play a vital role in raising funds for cancer treatment, and this is finally happening in India too.”
Dr Banavali said that the 14 survivors had been assisting the department in many ways. “They not only help in fundraising but also in counselling patients, and helping them cope with the disease,” he said. “They also counsel relatives, interact with paediatric cancer survivors and generally spread awareness. Since they have been through the journey themselves, they can contribute in a much better way.”
Over the last 12 years, TMC has reported 21,181 paediatric cancer patients. As per the paediatric department, the survival rate has increased from 41 percent in 2010 to 58 percent in 2018.
“I was four years old when I was detected with blood cancer,” said Anamika, “I still remember the fear my parents had about the disease and the treatment. When I recovered, my parents and I had decided that once I completed my studies, I would contribute to the welfare of patients here.”
Anamika said that the paediatric cancer patients eagerly looked forward to her classes. “It’s a new activity and a welcome break for two hours,” she said. “Even those who have completed their treatment ensure that they do not miss the classes because they have become like therapy.”
Kalyan resident Arun Kumar Nadar (35), who was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma at the age of nine, said he had been a volunteer in the hospital since 2010. Nadar, who runs his own IT and cloud service consultancy, has been providing technical support to the hospital and counselling patients and their relatives. “The parents have many questions regarding the treatment, its side-effects and a patient’s life after its completion,” he said. “When we speak to them, it makes a major difference because we have survived the process and motivate them.”
Agreeing with Nadar, Priti Phad (35), who has an MA in social work and is associated with an NGO working for cancer patients, said that there were many other issues that survivors faced. “Things don’t end with treatment,” she pointed out. “Some survivors are low on self-confidence and require support. For example, I had retinoblastoma, a type of eye cancer, which was detected at the metastatic stage. My mother, a single mother with financial constraints, managed to get me to complete the treatment. I had a body-image issue and I initially had trouble completing my higher studies but then, I got in touch with the hospital’s support group and completed my studies too.”
The hospital’s paediatric department has also been working to bring down the rate of treatment abandonment, which dropped from 25 percent in 2008 to a mere two percent in 2021. “In 2007-08, one out of four children diagnosed with cancer did not return for treatment,” said Shalini Jatia, officer in charge of ImPaCCT. “However, with the establishment of ImPaCCT and its multifaceted support system, the rate of treatment abandonment dropped. Jatia added that data from 2010 to 2018 had been selected, as these patients had completed their treatment and survived. “It helped in giving a perspective on how the ImPaCCT model is working,” she said.