KMC Hospital Attavar to observe International Childhood Cancer Day (ICCD) on 14 February
Mangaluru : Addressing the media persons at Mangaluru Press Club, Dr Harsha Prasad, Pediatric Hematogist & Oncologist at KMC Hospital Mangaluru stated that, “KMC Hospital Attavar, the only Hospital in the District to have a Pediatric Hematology Oncology Specialty to provide specialized cancer treatment to children will be observing International Childhood Cancer Day on Friday the 14th February 2020 at 10:15 am, at Sanjeevini Hall, 7 th floor KMC Hospital Attavar”.
He further said “Our own Celebrity Star from Mangaluru – Music Director, Singer & Actor Gurukiran and Nadoja Dr. G Shankar the great philanthropist will be the chief guests for this Program. This Program will be attended by cancer surviving children and their parents; a Cancer survivors programme where we will spread the awareness of childhood cancer and getting proper treatment. Apart from a get together; we intend to entertain the children with magic shows, fun activities coloring and painting partnering with Mass media which will spread the Message through FM , Print, TV & website.”
“Cancer in children constitutes 5.5% of total cancer cases in India according to the Indian Council for Medical Research. This percentage has more than doubled from 2.5% ten years ago. In absolute numbers this means that there around 50,000 childhood cancers in India annually. A disturbing reality, however only 1 in 10 of the childhood cancer cases receives complete therapy. As a consequence, while cure rates for common childhood cancers like lymphoma and leukaemia are over 80% in the developed world, in India, they are as low as 30%” added Dr Harsha.
Also speaking on the occasion, Dr. Kamalakshi Bhat, HOD, Department of Pediatrics, KMC Hospital Attavar said , “International Childhood Cancer Day (ICCD) which was founded in 2002 by Childhood Cancer International (CCI) is observed around the world each year on February 15th. CCI – a global network of 171 member organizations in 88 countries (World Health Organization, SIOP) The aim is towards the global goal of reducing childhood cancer mortality and the elimination of cancer-related pain and suffering. KMC Hospital Attavar is one of the leading Medical College Hospital in coastal region of Karnataka. Division of Pediatric oncology and hematology under the department of Pediatrics started almost two decades ago”.
“We have been treating all types of cancer in children for the past 20 years. We have dedicated oncology ward meant for children, dedicated nursing team, dedicated doctors, social workers, data manager, pediatric surgeon and on site radiation oncology facility. Currently we are seeing around 80 new cases of children with cancer every month. The overall cure rate is around 65-70% with diseases such as acute lymphoblastic leukemia is around 80%” added Dr Bhat
Dharmith Rai, Proprietor, Infinity Entertainment shared his thoughts about the support their team will be providing for childhood cancer and the activities done for cancer surviving children and their parents during the programme.
