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All service oriented organisations
endeavour to continuously reinvent and reengineer themselves
in order to stay relevant, topical, efficient and
contemporary in an ever changing environment
Founded in 1951, by Dr. D. J. Jussawalla
and Mr. Naval Tata, the year 2008-09 marks a major renewal
of the Indian Cancer Society, the pioneer NGO working on
cancer care in India, with many firsts to its credit.
Internationally affiliated and
recognized, it is the official delegate to the UICC
(International Union against Cancer) in Geneva, and a
Founder Member of the Asian Federation of Cancer. It has 6
branches and 28
affiliates
covering various regions and specialisations throughout
India.
The reconstituted Managing Committee and
its team of Office Bearers and Volunteers comprise respected
leaders with experience in the medical profession,
scientific research, business, legal, finance, and public
administration. This group of volunteers provides visionary
and robust governance, ensuring that with minimal
administrative expense, the donations to the Society (which
the Government has made eligible for tax benefits up to
100%) are utilised on programmes which bring direct benefits
to society, in line with the mission of the Indian Cancer
Society.
In 1952 the Indian Cancer Society started
a series of
Rehabilitation Programmes for cancer survivors, and in
1955 helped establish the first Chemotherapy Centre and
Cytology Laboratory in India at the Tata Memorial Hospital.
It was the ICS that in 1963 established Asia's oldest
population based Cancer Registry, which provides reports for
the Indian Council of Medical Research, as an important
component of the National Cancer Control Programme of the
Govt. of India. In the same year the Indian Cancer Society
began publishing
the Indian Journal of Cancer for the scientific and
medical professions.
In addition in 1978 the ICS set up
India’s first
Cancer
Detection Unit providing check ups, screening and
creating awareness. This was a Mobile Detection Unit used in
cancer detection camps.
It was the Indian Cancer Society that
once again took the initiative to develop India's first
cancer
insurance policy, in collaboration with New India
Assurance. It was the ICS which also established the Lady
Ratan Tata Centre in 1984, to provide affordable cancer
diagnosis and treatment facilities to the poor and needy.
But the India Cancer Society is not
content to rest on its laurels. A new strategic plan has
been drawn up, endorsed, and is being implemented. This plan
keeps the Indian Cancer Society focused on what it knows and
does best, but ensures that all its activities and
facilities are rendered state-of-the -art, in some cases
through joint collaborations with experienced specialist
organisations. An expansion in Mobile Units will bring
detection and diagnosis to the lower socio-economic strata
that do not have access to hospitals and medical centres in
the larger cities. These new Mobile Units will be equipped
with modern Mammography, ENT, and Gynaecology facilities,
and be staffed by health care workers specifically trained
in awareness programmes, early detection and screening
methodology.
Towards this end, in Jan. 2009, we
acquired the second modern mobile detection unit, thanks to
the generous support of the Leicester Charnwood Lions Club
(U.K.). It has already started making trips to the poorer
regions of Maharashtra, Gujarat and Goa. By June 2009, we
expect to add the third mobile van to our fleet of mobile
vans bank, fitted with state of the art mammography and
x-ray equipment. This has been made possible by the unique,
single handed efforts of Tata Sons Executive Director, Mr.
Alan Rosling in memory of his secretary Mrs. Parveen Aga who
died of cancer. Our plan is to reach a target of 5 mobile
vans so that we can screen 50,000 people for cancer every
year.
We have begun a joint collaboration with
St. Jude India Child Care Centres to set up 30 free dwelling
units and to provide holistic care (in terms of shelter,
safety, hygiene, nutrition, transport, education, and
emotional counselling) to needy children and their
accompanying parents visiting Mumbai from villages all over
India, for treatment and recovery from cancer. This has
helped to reduce the numbers “abandoning treatment”, which
is the major cause of death among these children. In order
to brighten up the lives of these young cancer patients with
Colours, we held Children’s Art Workshops in July and
October 2008 at our Rehabilitation Centre in Parel. The
paintings from these workshops have not only been decorating
our offices and houses, but have also been converted into
greeting cards, the sale proceeds of which will go back to
support these children’s medical treatment. These support
activities are proposed to be expanded during 2009-2010 with
the help of Cankids- a division of our Delhi branch which
has done some wonderful work in the area of childhood cancer
care in Delhi.
The year 2008-09 also saw the renovation
of the
Cancer Registry & Research departments as two critical
resource centres for cancer related research - an effort
that has been recognised by the Dept. of Science &
Technology of the Union Govt. Delhi. Carrying this work
further we plan to renovate and modernise the Cancer Patient
Rehabilitation Workshop and to set up a Comprehensive Cancer
Information & Support Centre which will provide medical and
I.T. based support in various forms to underprivileged
cancer patients in times of their maximum need.
To signal the above transformation of our
Society as a national “Care to Cure” Institution for Cancer
Control, we launched our new logo at the July 2008 Charity
Dinner while celebrating our 57th. Anniversary. The new
logo, as an expression of self determination and hope,
highlights the words “I CAN” as a critical component of our
full name “Indian Cancer Society”. This logo has come out of
the creative minds of the Umbrella design Team & has now
become the symbol of a rejuvenated, energised Indian Cancer
Society.
From
THE MANAGING COMMITTEE
INDIAN CANCER SOCIETY |
Profile