The India Pediatric Oncology Initiative is a committment to building India’s capacity to deliver quality care to children with cancer.
Pediatric Oncology in India Cancer in childhood is quite rare compared with cancer in adults, but it still causes the most deaths, other than injuries and accidents, among children 0-19 years of age. Childhood cancers account for 3-4% of all cancers. Unlike adult cancers, the causes of most childhood cancers are as yet unknown.World-wide 70-90% of childhood cancers are curable. In India, every year there are 40,000-50,000 new cases of childhood cancer in India. In India, it is estimated that nearly 70 – 80% children die of cancer, due largely to lack of awareness, late diagnosis and detection, inadequate cancer treatment facilities and the exorbitant cost of treatment.
Treatment options for children with cancer in India are poor and limited, primarily due to inadequate chemotherapy and supportive care. Most children with cancer and blood diseases are still being treated by adult hematologist and oncologist. There are less than 100 physicians trained in pediatric oncology in the entire state of India. Pediatric Hematology and Oncology does not as yet claim a separate existence in many of India's medical colleges and hospitals.
Through the execution of the "India Pediatric Oncology Initiative," pediatric oncology efforts by focusing on training and by providing salary support to hire more manpower to treat these children. By providing education and training for doctors, nurses and pharmacists in pediatric oncology, the India Pediatric Oncology Initiative will open doors to kids with cancer by sharing lifesaving knowledge with India. We are working with existing pediatricians to improve their training as well as provide training for new physicians, nurses, data managers and pharmacists. The end results with be an enhanced infrastructure of existing pediatric cancer center by providing specialized training in sarcoma, retinoblastoma, and brain tumors as well as more manpower to tackle this challenge. Another large focus of the IPOI is prospective data collection and analysis, which can be done through the database we developed called the IndiaPOD.
India Pediatric Oncology Initiative The "India Pediatric Oncology Initiative" is an outreach program for the improvement of the delivery of pediatric oncology care in India. It is driven by a focus on improving pediatric oncology treatment and support services, professionalizing the workforce (training for physicians, nurses, and social workers, etc.) and improving data management and long term patient follow-up.
Our ultimate goal is to increase the survival rates and improve the quality of life in children with cancer. To meet this goal, we emphasize long term collaborations with medical institutions and physicians throughout the country. Jiv Daya Foundation is committing significant resources to partner with institutions to improve the infrastructure for providing care to children with cancer. Our vision is to professionalize the workforce to treat more children with cancer, improve standard data collection and patient follow-up,ease suffering from cancer by providing more staff to see and treat patient, and improve the overall quality of life for those living with cancer.
Please take the time to tell us about your institution by completing the following Needs Assessment Survey (please fax to 214.360.7471 or email your response to shoswald@jivdayafound.org):
