New Delhi: Bringing happiness to cancer kids

New Delhi: Every disease comes with its set of myths and expenses attached to it, sometimes ignorance and struggle to break people and make recovery difficult. Having seen this closely for the since 2004 CanKids KidsCan, India and Hope B~Lit from United States team came together to support and spread joy in the life of children suffering from cancer. An American NGO Hope B~Lit travels to donate all proceeds from the short film Got Cancer to kids with cancer with the support of CanKids India.

Awareness is the first step to recovery, support in terms of emotional availability and financial stability is second to getting the correct treatment and love and acceptance are the most critical of the things to do when someone is dealing with something as critical as Cancer.

They have travelled together to 3 metropolitan cities, Mumbai, Kolkata and Delhi to felicitate cancer survivors and provide the much need financial aid to families with children suffering from cancer. They aimed to improve the survival of children with cancer and the quality of life and the rights of the child with cancer and their families.

CanKids has adopted a multi-pronged strategy, that includes working in partnership with hospitals like AIIMS etc. to provide holistic support to children affected with cancer. Across India CanKids KidsCan works in over 22 states, 100 locations with over 89 cancer centres in 42 cities and treats more than 12,000 new cases of childhood cancer each year.

As a national-level organization helping and enabling any child with cancer and the family anywhere in the country, CanKids seek new CSR partnerships to reach and support more and more children and families, to scale up and also be sustainable.

They are convinced that working collaboratively, they will continue to make a significant impact on childhood cancer in India. In 2018-19 CanKids spent about Rs 8 crore in providing direct medical support to cancer affected children and their families; in addition to this they also facilitated Rs17 crore from various government schemes to reach cancer affected children and their families.

Celebrities came out in support of the cause, Shahid Mallya who sang the songs 'Ik Kudi' and 'Darya' in Mumbai', Arjun Chakraborty (Actor) in Kolkata and Ruhi Hak (Founder- Hope B~LIT), Sonal Sharma (Co-founder, CanKids), Poonam Bagai (Founder, CanKids), Harsh Kumar (COO CanKids), and media partners Ezilon Media Pvt Ltd were present at the events held on December 17 in Mumbai, December 18 in Kolkata, and December 18 in New Delhi respectively.

"We are fighting a war against cancer - childhood cancer. Together we Can Partnerships and stakeholder engagement are vital. Earlier this year we started real work with other partners in India on the WHO Global Initiative on Childhood Cancer which targets a 60% survival in LMICs by 2030," said Poonam Bagai, Founder, Chairman, Cankids KidsCan and cancer survivor and Advocate.

"As the year draws to a close, we are delighted to initiate a new partnership with Hope B~LIT from USA which will help us to raise much-needed awareness and funds for the cause. We congratulate Ruhi Hak on the deeply inspiring film on childhood cancer "Got Cancer" and are inspired by her passion and commitment to children's causes," added Bagai.

The critically acclaimed short film "Got Cancer" was screened at the event to highlight social issues, and put a spotlight on the concerns around Cancer to be able to take real action on the ground. "Our vision was clear from the beginning. While conceptualizing 'Got Cancer!' I knew the story not only needed to drive change in thought but more importantly, it needed to translate into a call to action. That's what creates a real impact on the ground for a supported cause," said Ruhi AKA Rohini Hak, Founder of Hope B~LIT.

All Proceeds from "Got Cancer!" screenings will continue to be donated to the kids braving cancer. Hope B~Lit aims to provide much-needed support to affected children and their families in terms of further education and health check.