AADHAR
ANNUAL REPORT YEAR April 2013 - March 2014
About us
Aadhar is a
registered charitable trust set up in 1998 which was started by a group of
professionals in an effort to help the poor and underprivileged cancer patients
get adequate medical care and treatment.
There are four main activities of the
trust. These are:
1. Child
Cancer Fund
2. Fund
for young women with cancer.
3. Counseling
Centre for cancer patients and care-givers.
4. Eye
care services.
Cancer is a disease
that takes a huge financial and emotional toll on the patient and the family. Due
to the substantial costs of the medication to treat the disease, poor patients
are often unable to finish their treatments even when treated in government
hospitals as medicines may sometimes have to be purchased from other sources.
At times this may mean that the family needs to sell their meager possessions in
order to continue the treatment which further worsens their financial
conditions. However, if the patient cannot get the required funds to purchase
the medicine, the patient eventually dies due to the lack of treatment. This
loss is further compounded if the life lost is that of a child. Aadhar attempts
to identify and assist such poor families, especially if the patient is a
child. With increasing improvements in the management of childhood cancers, a
complete and comprehensive treatment has a high chance of being successful
allowing the child to grow up to lead a productive life.
The trust has
expanded its scope this year by starting a fund supporting young women
suffering from cancer between the ages of 21 – 40 yrs. This is our second
target group, children being the first. We at Aadhar, being well aware of
societal set up in India knew that this is a group that is often neglected in favor
of males. Therefore, it was important to support a young woman not only to help
her but also her family, especially her children.
Summary of our
activities from April 2013 to March 2014.
The Child Cancer Fund:
1.
Total number of new patients
registered 47.
2. Total of 322 chemotherapy cycles
administered for old and new patients.
3.
Amount spent on treatment
cycles was Rs. 17,09,809/-.
From the inception upto March 2014 we have
raised more than 1Crore and 10 lacs in our effort to help children with cancer.
Children on support came from the following
hospitals:
- Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narain Hospital
- Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital
- Sir Ganga Ram Hospital
- Shroff Charitable Eye Hospital
- Rajiv Gandhi Cancer Institute and Research Centre
- Dharamshila Cancer Hospital
- All India Institute of Medical Sciences
Blood and blood products are a repeated
requirement especially in the treatment of leukemia’s. Parents find it very
difficult to get a donor each time. To help them in time of crisis we are putting
together a list of volunteers who would be ready to donate blood for a patient.
Volunteers of Youth against Cancer especially are keen to help these children.
A.
Fund for young
women with cancer:
This fund came into being in October, 2012. So far eight women have
been helped through this fund. The amount spent on the treatment of young women
with cancer by radiation and chemotherapy is approximately Rs 1,20,000.00. so
far.
We have still not informed too many doctors about this fund. We have
to work out an efficient method of management. Once the availability is made
known then doctors send patients of all ages for help and it becomes difficult
to refuse. The other factor was that in the last year the burden on the child
cancer fund increased a lot and it was becoming difficult to manage. The kind
support and donations from our well wishers helped a lot.
B.
Counseling Centre
for cancer patients and care- givers:
The counseling centre has been started in October,
2012. The aims of the centre are to:
• Decrease patient’s sense
of alienation by introducing them to others in similar situations, especially
survivors who have beat the disease,
• Reduce anxiety about the
treatments,
• Assist in clarifying
misconceptions and misinformation and
• Lessen the patients’
feelings of isolation, helplessness and neglect by others.
As a Counseling centre, we aim to provide
patients with a more comprehensive support system, enabling the patients and
their families to be better prepared to deal with the cancer and its fall out
in every way possible.
A very holistic approach is being planned
where we are involving homeopathic and ayurveda specialists also in our
approach.
Besides helping the patients, the
Counseling Centre also aims at assisting and aiding the families of the cancer
patients to cross this hurdle. Therefore, in addition to the above points the
Centre also
• Informs
and educates patients and relatives about the disease, its treatment and other
relevant information such as common side effects etc.
• Answers
queries patients may have about the disease and about positive health practices
such as diet, exercise, etc.
• Teaches stress management
through relaxation techniques, meditation and yoga.
• Provides
advice on nutrition from a dietician about what to eat, what to avoid, how to
prepare healthy and wholesome recipes.
• Assists
with general information such as how to get wigs and other prosthesis, details
of genuine dealers who supply, on sale or hire, wheel chairs, crutches, walkers
and other things required for these patients etc.
The Counseling
centre is being run with the help of highly trained professionals such as Dr.
Aradhana Sharma who is a highly qualified psychologist having her own practice.
She is also working in various schools as an advisor.
Dr Sanjiv Kumar
has agreed to be our advisor on ayurveda.
As part of our
pro-active outreach program, our plan is to organize awareness drives in
various schools. This will be a part of our campaign to spread awareness about
cancer especially regarding substance abuse and environmental factors causing
increased incidence of cancer. Another purpose is to create sensitivity about
problems of patients suffering from cancer.
C.
Distribution of
free literature:
The following booklets and pamphlets were printed for free
distribution to increase awareness about cancer and treatment options available
:–
- Cancers found in Indian Children.
- Booklet on Cancers of the respiratory and gastro-intestinal tract.
- Cancer –Ek Ghar Ki Kahani which is a drama script on the three commonest gynaecological cancers.
- Booklet on cancers caused by HIV virus by Dr Manoj Sharma. This specially addresses young potential parents who may be responsible for the birth of HIV positive children who are at higher risk for certain cancers. Besides this, children with HIV positive parents may be orphaned at an early age and face many problems.
- Cancer Chikitsa- Isse Saharsh
Kaise Poora Karein.
- Hindustani Auraton Mein Cancer-Cancer Ki KAhani, Jo Auraton Ne Na Jaani.
- Cancer
Chikitsa, Gahan Chikitsa
D.
Eye Care
Services:
An eye camp was held in December 2013 at A 4/25 Paschim Vihar, New
Delhi where about 225 patients attended the OPD held on that day. Patients were
given appointments and one complete eye check up as needed was done.
25 patients underwent surgery for cataract with intra-ocular lens
implant. The expense of the eye camp was about Rs 1,50,000/-.
In summary, this
year Aadhar has been able to help cancer patients, children and women, with
chemotherapeutic medication and radiotherapy amounting to a total of
approximately Rs. 18,29,809/-( Rs Eighteen lakhs,twenty thousand eight hundred
and nine only.). Further, Rs.1,50000/- have been spent on the eye camp held in
the year 2013-2014. We have also successfully started Aadhar’s Counseling
Center for cancer patients and their families. We hope to build on these
achievements next year and provide further support to cancer patients, their
families as well as extend our medical services to the community.
Contributions
Contributions
were received by way of:-
- Cash;
- Cheques;
- Drafts;
- Direct remittance to the account.
Note: Aadhar has
received FCRA approval for accepting donations from abroad and all donations
made to Aadhar are eligible for benefits u/s 80G of the Income Tax Act, 1961.
