“Our doors are open”: an NGO for cancer patients in India

FOR people with serious diseases such as cancer, the number one priority is being able to go to a hospital, receive medical treatment and afford medicines to get better and be cured. Treatments for some conditions are short term and require only a few hospital visits. But for other serious diseases such as cancer, a person needs multiple visits, expensive treatments and rounds of medication. But after all this, their condition still may not improve – and they have to start all over again. For people who cannot afford this extensive and expensive treatment, there is an NGO for cancer patients from poor backgrounds called Charutar Arogya Mandal that has the doors to their hospital open to people who are in desperate need.

 

The reason that Charutar Arogya Mandal decided to build a hospital for the poor back in the 1970s is because of the masses across India who were suffering and dying without a hospital to go to for their health problems. The hospitals that were available did offer treatment but cancer patients still struggled to afford multiple rounds of expensive procedures such as chemotherapy and radiation therapy. The Gujarat-based NGO for cancer patients brought together experienced medical professionals and state-of-the-art equipment to deliver the best treatment to its patients. More than 50 years later, Charutar Arogya Mandal is still bringing the best treatment possible to its patients. 

The nation-builder who founded Charutar Arogya Mandal

In 1947, India was a new nation and its freedom fighters went from being revolutionaries who sacrificed their lives for independence to political leaders and civil servants of a newly independent India. One of these civil servants was a man named Dr. Hirubhai Mulljibhai Patel. From 1947, he served as the first Defense Secretary of India from 1947 to 1953 and had an important role in protecting the partition refugees and keeping them safe from the violence that was spreading across the subcontinent in 1947. From this role, HM Patel went on to serve as the Finance Minister from 1977 to 1979 and then had a seven month role as the Home Minister of India in 1979. But before that, he noticed the suffering of the poor. 

 

The beginnings of Charutar Arogya Mandal

Dr. HM Patel realized that an NGO for cancer patients was the need of the hour for the masses of disadvantaged people across India. From the start of the organization’s operations, the experienced doctors and nurses prioritized keeping their doors open to the most poor and underprivileged people in need of medical care. The people started trickling into the hospital which began treatments for free. In time, more people started coming to the hospital which was named Shree Krishna Hospital located in the city of Anand in the western state of Gujarat. The members of Charutar Arogya Mandal were passionate about making sure that providing service to the poor was the priority, not financial gain and profit.

Serving the poor across India

The hospital that the NGO for cancer patients runs is a 1,000-bed tertiary hospital located on a 100-acre campus. The hospital is equipped with specialized care covering general medicine, cardiology, ENT, dental, pulmonology, neurology, surgical units, physiotherapy, ICU, emergency wards and more medical services. Its specialized cancer care ward makes it a leading NGO for cancer patients in the state. The hospital offers radiation therapy, chemotherapy care, specialized transplant surgeries and palliative care by a team of experienced radiation and surgical oncologists who provide care for free to patients who would otherwise succumb to the disease without them.

 

The hospital’s impact 50 years on

In the past 50 years, the NGO for cancer patients has touched the lives of hundreds of thousands of people who would otherwise have had no access to medical treatment for their diseases. This means that hundreds of thousands of families have been strengthened by the care provided by Charutar Arogya Mandal. In many cases, because the main breadwinner of the family is suffering from a disease, the entire family suffers from a lack of access to food, shelter, education and other basic rights to keep themselves alive and well. Because of the free treatment provided by the hospital, these families are able to live their lives and improve their futures. This impacts generations of people in addition to the patient in need. 

From the heart of an oncologist at the NGO

Dr. Amruta Tripathi is an oncologist at the NGO for cancer patients and shares that before the patients arrive at Charutar Arogya Mandal, they would have gone from door to door pleading with hospitals to treat them for their cancers and other diseases. But doors are shut in their faces. “When such cancer patients come to us we stand by them. We hold their hands and assure them that they will get the treatment they need”, the oncologist shares. To be able to afford treatment elsewhere, these individuals would have to sell all their belongings but these patients are so poor that they have nothing to sell. The concessions and free treatment is a huge relief for them and saves their lives while helping their families. 

 

Support this compassionate NGO for cancer patients

When you support Charutar Arogya Mandal, you help families across India who are suffering from diseases that can be treated with the right doctors, procedures, medicines and personal support and care. The NGO for cancer patients also prioritizes showing compassion and personal support to the patients who walk through their doors to help them build their confidence. The organization believes that this strengthens their minds to be able to respond to the treatment better. Your generous support to Charutar Arogya Mandal will mean the difference between life and death for countless underprivileged people who are in desperate need of care and healing. To support Charutar Arogya Mandal:

 

Donate to Charutar Arogya Mandal

 

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