Why Tata Memorial Hospital?
Research
Tata Memorial Hospital is the country’s biggest cancer treatment and research centre. Its vision is to provide subsidized cancer treatment for underprivileged sections of society. Every year, the hospital treats over 2000 children – over 95 percent of them come from poor socio-economic backgrounds.
Philanthropy
The hospital’s rich history of philanthropy and best-in-class facilities, its tireless staff, and overall philosophy towards cancer care has inspired us to contribute in our own small way – our aim is to get as many people as possible to donate towards these unfortunate children with scarce means, either on a regular basis or whenever possible.
IMPACCT Foundation is mandated to work with Tata Memorial Hospital to provide holistic support, including economic, social and psychological support. Besides working tirelessly towards raising funds for children in need of financial support, IMPACCT Foundation is dedicated to better research, better treatment and better education.
Besides working tirelessly towards raising funds for children in need of financial support, IMPACCT Foundation is dedicated to better research, better treatment and better education.
Inside the world of Paediatric Cancer
If you’re scratching your head trying to identify even a single child you know who suffers from cancer, the fact is that over 50,000 children in India suffer from cancer each year.
A sizeable number of them pass through these corridors of TMH, the country’s premier centre for cancer treatment and research. They slip through the cracks of our social awareness, their parents fight prolonged battles for their children away from our gaze, selling belongings, homes, jewellery, to raise funds, their only strength coming from the look in their children’s eyes.
Even the most hardened oncologists paint a grim picture. Most children suffering from cancer receive aggressive care, and experience substantial suffering, from at least one symptom, most commonly fatigue, or pain. The effects of cancer treatment are far more difficult for children to bear than for adults.
Children also find it far more difficult to fight or even survive infections resulting from the cancer itself or the treatment, leading to a high mortality rate among children with cancer.
Just like for the children, for the doctors too, each day is an onslaught of cases, a daily battle they fight between quality of care and funds required to provide it, in their attempts to ensure all the children who walk through TMH’s doors are attended to.
Take a minute to walk with us through the Tata Memorial Hospital’s ground floor, outpatient department, tucked away in a corner of Mumbai’s busy Parel area. On any given day, close to 500 children aged 0 to 15 years of age, suffering from different types of cancer, wait in long lines to be seen by a small team of TMH’s best doctors.
Despite the numbers, there’s relative silence in the sprawling and congested OPD, the silence of helplessness… and hope. Leukemia or lymphoma are the most common kinds of cancer afflicting these children.