National Cancer Awareness Day: Five Indian NGOs helping people fight
For National Cancer Awareness Day, here are five Indian NGOs you can support in the fight against this life-threatening condition.
A World Health Organisation (WHO) study revealed that one in every 10 Indians will develop cancer and one in every 15 will die of the disease. It is thus very critical to spread awareness, detect the disease at an early stage, and start the treatment as soon as possible.
Below are five NGOs that are helping people to fight cancer.
Grace Cancer Foundation
Founded in 2013, Grace Cancer Foundation was started with a vision to reach and aid people who cannot afford cancer treatment. With prevention as one of their primary roles, the organisation conducts cancer awareness programmes in rural areas and also provides free tests. Interestingly, in 2019, it won the Guinness Book of World record for conducting cancer tests for 1,69,668 people in one day at Guntur, Andhra Pradesh.
Cuddles Foundation
Cuddles Foundation works to provide nutrition to underprivileged children fighting cancer in government and charity hospitals across India. Getting the right nutrition increases the chances of improvement and Cuddles works with corporate and brand partners to provide help to not just children with cancer but also their families.
St Jude India’s Child Care Center
Among India’s most populous metros, Mumbai is often where hundreds of families from nearby states travel to get treatment for their children battling cancer. Due to a lack of proper and affordable facilities, many who belong to financially unstable backgrounds usually end up staying on the streets.
St. Jude India’s Child Care Center provides shelter to these families along with a support system.
Swastava Cancer Care
Awareness building and timely intervention are part of the multi-pronged approach that Swastava Cancer Care used to fight the disease. Telangana is seeing an increase in the number of patients with breast cancer, cervical cancer, and oral cancer, especially as there is limited awareness about these in rural areas.
Swastava organises camps for women to spread awareness, learn about self-examination and take the necessary steps towards saving their lives.
Swastava Cancer Care conducting a breast cancer screening camp.
Global Cancer Concern India
This NGO works with cancer patients who hail from the impoverished parts of the population.
From awareness campaigns to cancer detection camps, Global Cancer Concern India helps people in numerous ways.
It also provides vocational training to family members of people fighting cancer and works towards helping with financial support for the education of children whose parents are undergoing treatment for cancer.
Edited by Saheli Sen Gupta