New Year Day celebrations
New Year Day celebrations at the free cancer ward for children at the Sri Ramakrishna Institute for Oncology and Research in Coimbatore on Tuesday.Actually, the glow on the faces of the cancer-afflicted children was brighter than the one on the candles they lit.There was very little sign of morbidity at the free cancer ward for children at the Sri Ramakrishna Institute for Oncology and Research here as it lit up with the New Year Day celebrations on Tuesday.More than 15 children, their parents, doctors and paramedical staff clapped and said “Happy New Year” as two-year-old Rahul cut the New Year cake. The bubbly child, suffering from blood cancer, was dressed for the occasion in a sherwani. The older children allowed him to play the lead role at the celebrations as he approached the cake with a spring in his step.G. Balaji, a sixth standard student in the city, did not seem to miss the celebrations outside.The 16-bed free ward was put to optimum use for the occasion. Director of the institute P. Guhan began the celebrations by distributing chocolates to the children. In a few minutes from then, sizeable pieces of the cake were getting distributed.Dr. Guhan said he organised this celebration to ease the stress of the disease on the children and their parents.The newly-formed Sri Ramakrishna Cancer Alleviation and Rehabilitation Trust had begun working on ways to mobilise funds to sustain the free cancer ward.
It was formed after a cancer patient provided the initial corpus.The hospital provided free beds. But, much more money was needed to make a full-fledged free cancer ward, Dr. Guhan said.“We want to provide treatment to not only children from poor families, but also to older people who cannot afford it,” Dr. Guhan said.Explaining this objective of the trust, he said a 35-year-old cancer patient who was the sole breadwinner of his family might need free treatment.There might be others who could meet only 50 per cent of the treatment cost.“A huge corpus is needed for treatment that involves modern equipment and medicines. Otherwise, there is always the chance of doctors hesitating in providing modern treatment for poor patients,” Dr. Guhan said.
There was need for a regional cancer centre in Coimbatore, such as the one at Adyar in Chennai, he said.Six persons had donated sums ranging from Rs.50,000 to Rs.1.5 lakh.Besides, one company had given Rs.1.5 lakh and another Rs.50,000.The Annapoorna group of hotels were providing food thrice a day for the free ward.“The manager of the Avarampalayam hotel of the group has even organised through his friends a daily supply of fruits for the children,” Dr. Guhan said.The trust also planned fund raiser programmes to step up the free service.
