Pediatric Oncology

The India Pediatric Oncology Initiative (IPOI), launched in 2007, was the first major effort undertaken by Jiv Daya Foundation towards making a measurable impact on the landscape of Indian health care. Pediatric Oncology is considered a field with enormous potential for success, since most childhood cancers are curable, and since a cured child will have the opportunity to live for several more decades. Cancer in children is highly curable (In Europe and the United States, survival rate for all pediatric cancers is approximately 75%-79%), yet there are less than 100 trained pediatric oncologists in India, where survival rates are estimated at less than 50%. Due to inadequate treatment, lack of awareness, poor treatment facilities, and the high cost of treatment, many children are lost to follow-up or abandon treatment. Jiv Daya Foundation pursues data collection to define the scope of pediatric cancer in India, as well as capacity building projects to improve the infrastructure of care, which we achieve through provision of salary support for physicians and nurses, social workers, counselors, dieticians, and/or data managers, who all serve a specific and important role in delivering the best possible care.