​CanKids signs MoU with National Health Mission, Govt. of Uttar Pradesh to Provide Access2Care for Children With Cancer​

On May 3, 2023, CanKids KidsCan - National Society for Change for Childhood Cancer in India proudly signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the National Health Mission, Government of Uttar Pradesh, as their knowledge and support partner for childhood cancer. 

The MoU was signed by Smt Aparna Upadhyay, MD National Health Mission, Government of Uttar Pradesh with CanKids KidsCan Founder-Chairman Ms Poonam Bagai in the presence of Chief Secretary UP, Shri DS Mishra and Principal Secretary Medical Health and Family Welfare (H&FW), Shri Partha Sarthi Sen Sharma, and families of childhood cancer patients as well as cancer survivors from the state.

Also present were important stakeholders Pro-VC KGMU Professor Vineet Sharma, Dr. Soniya Nityanand, Director Dr. RML Institute of Medical Sciences, Dr. R.K. Dhiman, Director Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Ms. Kinjal Singh, IAS DG Medical Education & Research (DMER) , Dr. Manoj Kumar Shukul GM RBSK, Sonal Sharma, Co-Founder CanKids.

This is the 8th state-level MoU that CanKids has signed after Punjab in September 2017, Maharashtra in February 2019, West Bengal in August 2020, Tamil Nadu in December 2021, Gujarat in February 2022, Madhya Pradesh in April 2022 and Puducherry in September 2022, together accounting for 52% of the childhood cancer incidence in the country.

Under the MoU, CanKids will work with the Government of Uttar Pradesh, and all relevant stakeholders to:

1. Develop an Access2Care model, including a 4-tier Childhood Cancer Network with referral pathways from primary to tertiary levels and for Shared Care at primary, district, and tertiary cancer care centres for diagnosis, treatment, survivorship, and palliative care.
2. Provide access to care information and awareness to health professionals, government officials, civil society, and patients' families.
3. Build capacities of health care professionals, allied social support teams and health workers as well as patient-parent education for childhood cancer.
4. Ensure the provision of facilities and services for patients' families including access to funding and financing through government and other welfare schemes, financing schemes, insurance as well as donor support.
5. Drive improved standards of access to treatment, care, and support through improved quality, research, and epidemiology.
6. Ensure community engagement and patient participation of patients, survivors, and parents to ensure patient-centric care.

Quotes & Observations From Stakeholders

Shri Durga Shankar Mishra, Chief Secretary, Government of Uttar Pradesh :

​"About 14,700 children, under 19-years of age fall sick with cancer in Uttar Pradesh every year. This is 20% of the count in India and 4% global cases of cancer among children. The aim of the government is to ensure that cancer in children is diagnosed at an early stage and the affected children and their families get the facility of care.

CanKids will play an important role in realizing the Prime Minister's vision of a healthy India and work with the state government by coordinating with all the concerned stakeholders, which include government departments, hospital management, health professionals, other non-profit organizations, and parents for children with cancer of our state.

In future, cancer survivors should be encouraged by addressing them as cancer winners, so that they can conquer cancer and inspire other victims to defeat this disease."
​

Ms. Aparna Upadhyay, Mission Director, NHM :


“The aim is to ensure that families of children with cancer get best access to care. Through appropriate knowledge and someone to hold their hand will they should know where to go. 

Timely diagnosis and treatment, shared care and continuity of care, working at all levels Primary health care, district and tertiary cancer centres will help more children survive and thrive. ”

Poonam Bagai & Sonal Sharma,
Founders CanKids :
​

“Our goal is 60% survival and 100% access to care by 2030 for every child with cancer in the State. When families reach a childhood cancer treatment centre they should get best standards of treatment, care and support. 

Through our Cankids Hospital Support Unit (CHSU) projects - we are already partnering with 11 major hospitals in UP since we first started working here in 2009. While we provide social support manpower and financial, pyscho-social support and access to Government financing schemes, the doctors and the institutions work to provide better diagnostics, protocols, therapies, and nursing care. In the last 6 years we have registered over 4200 families and supported 6,800 families in UP. "

​Added Sonal Sharma, Co-Founder CanKids ,"By 2026 we aim to double our CHSUs to 25 hospitals and increase Access2Care to 50%. Working closely with NHM, Dept of H&FW, and DMER, Indian Academy of Pediatrics (IAP), UP & IAP-PHO, we will now also focus on helping more and more families get diagnosed in time and referred to the right cancer center.

As part of the roadmap to improve Access2Care for patient families, project Suddridh, a pediatric oncology partnership project was launched to strengthen health system in Gorakhpur region in September 2022 with project partners AIIMS Gorakhpur, BRD Medical College, Post Graduate Institute of Child Health (PGICH), Noida and The Academy of Pediatrics, Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh."

With help of our UP CSR partners like Aditya Birla Capital Foundation, EXL Services, Ascendum and Kotak Mahindra Bank and other donors and supporters, Cankids is now committed to helping all Patients requiring financial support

• in initial diagnosis for childhood cancer,
• transportation/food/accommodation support as per requirement to reach out to a cancer treating center
• Patients reaching out to a cancer treating center will be supported through the social support team for: Access to Government funding/schemes; direct financial support from CanKids and access to support available from other CSOs.”

​Families Fighting Cancer Thank The State Government of Uttar Pradesh

14700 children of the state of Uttar Pradesh get childhood cancer each year, which is the highest in the country. 

But only about 30% of the children are currently estimated to reach any cancer treating centre which means a whopping 70% do not make it to any cancer treating centre within or outside the state. 

3 year old Saloni and 12 year old Ayush and their families were invited for the MOU signing along with survivor leaders Shashank and Sugandha and parent patient navigators and leaders Priti Rastogi and Shaila Giri.​

Saloni is from Kushinagar and is being treated at KGMU, Lucknow for Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia, a blood cancer with over 80% survival rate in developed countries. She was diagnosed and referred in time. Her treatment is free of cost with access to Govt Asadhya Scheme. She is being treated on a good protocol by a well qualified pediatric Oncologist Dr. Nishant. She stays at the CanKids- Varsha Foundation Home Away from Home in Lucknow and gets holistic care and psycho-social support from NGOs like CanKids. Our goal is for more and more children like her to get the best treatment, care & support.

On the other hand, Ayush came to RML hospital late. He has advanced bone cancer. The doctors are trying. We have to detect diagnose and refer early. The MoU with NHM and working closely with Treating institutions will enable us to make this happen!

Over the next three years, CanKids plans to work with all stakeholders with the support of the government of Uttar Pradesh to ensure better access and quality of care with higher survival rates and positive outcomes.