CSR is fighting cancer in the country

Corporate social responsibility and corporate philanthropy are emerging as major supporters in the fight against cancer in India.

Breast cancer

Fujifilm India conducted a conference on breast cancer in December 2018. Amulet- TAB (Together Against Breast Cancer) aimed to trigger behavioural change and to build awareness on the fact that early detection of breast cancer can increase the rate of survival.

The event witnessed an ensemble of eminent doctors and breast cancer survivors from Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Aurangabad, Cochin, Shimla and Kolkata. The two-day conference acted as an interface to enable an intellectual session focused on: Breast cancer in India and the role of AI in treatment.

According to a report by WHO, mammograms have been shown to reduce breast cancer mortality by around 20% in women by early detection. Modern day digital mammography machines with tomosynthesis such as the Fujifilm’s 50 Micron digital Mammography – Amulet Innovality are able to detect cancers early and involve very little radiation, even less than a standard chest X-ray.

Cervical cancer

As many as 432 million women in India are at risk of developing cervical cancer, yet only 3.1% receive screening. Lack of equipment, qualified colposcopists, and socioeconomic conditions contribute to low screenings. When HPV testing or a Pap Smear screening does occur, 80% with positive results do not return for treatment resulting in unnecessary loss of life for a highly treatable form of cancer.

Enhanced Visual Assessment (EVA) System developer MobileODT will partner with Genworks and Apollo Hospitals to deliver its FDA-cleared smart mobile colposcope in India to perform the first large-scale pilot of Augmented Intelligence (AI) for use in cervical cancer screening.

According to a news report, the new move will provide healthcare professionals with a cutting edge, yet low-cost mobile technology to reach millions of women across India who previously had limited access to life saving cervical exams.

A previous pilot conducted in six Apollo Hospital Centers to assess the value of the EVA System on improving patient and provider experience found that the EVA System helped early detection of cervical cancer for almost three times as many women compared to those who were identified positive with Pap smear.

Government association

Tata Trusts Chairman Ratan Tata believes that the Tata Trusts in association with the Government would be able to set a pattern to reduce the deaths caused by cancer in the next decade or two.

Ratan Tata while laying the foundation stone along with Chief Minister Raghubar Das for a world-class cancer hospital in Ranchi on the lines of Tata Memorial Hospital in Mumbai, also lauded the central as well as the State Governments for showing their vision to tackle cancer by springing up a number of cancer hospitals across the Country. 50% beds of the hospital in Ranchi will be reserved for the people hailing from Jharkhand. The hospital will have 14 world class operation theatres with 28 beds Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and a blood bank.

Cancer treatment

AM Naik, Group Chairman of engineering major Larsen & Toubro (L&T), has joined hands with the Tata Trusts to set up a specialty cancer hospital at Navsari in Gujarat, reports Business Today.

While the Nirali Memorial Medical Trust (NMMT), a public charitable trust founded by Naik to carry out philanthropic activities in medical care, will set up the hospital, the Tata Trusts will manage operations of the facility.

The hospital at Navsari, the birthplace of Naik and Tata group founder Jamsetji Tata, is targeted at needy sections of society in their fight against cancer and the hospital will be built on land long associated with the Tata group.

The comprehensive cancer care hospital will have advance cancer treating facilities that range from clinical pathology, high-end linear accelerator, histopathology, biochemistry, USG, digital X-Ray and mammography to CT simulators, Brachytherapy OPDs as well as operation theatres. The upcoming centre will also be part of the network of cancer centres being established by the Tata Trusts across the country.

NMMT already runs the ‘Nirali Memorial Radiation Centre’ in Surat and provides modern medical facilities at Kharel Hospital in Gujarat.

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