Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd. (BHEL) enters a CSR partnership with National Society for Childhood Cancer CANKIDS KIDSCAN to achieve access to care for children from 117 aspirational districts of India as per the Aspirational District Project 2018 launched by the Government of India.

India accounts for more than 25% of the world’s childhood cancer. Yet we have Poor Access2Care ratio. Less than 34% children make it to a cancer centre. The top 10 centres see no more than 13-15% of children. For this reason, Survival Rates is less than 20%. Launched in 2018, the WHO Global Initiative for Childhood Cancer (GICC) aims for LMIC’s like India to achieve at least 60% survival rate for children with cancer by 2030, thereby saving an additional one million lives. For reaching 60% survival India would require 100% Access2Care.

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These 117 Aspirational Districts fall within Cankids 15 Change for Childhood Cancer In India State Projects, which aims to work with State Governments and all relevant stakeholders to ensure that families get best access to care – through appropriate knowledge of where to go, timely diagnosis and treatment, shared care and continuity of care.  Cankids currently has signed MOUs as knowledge and technical partners for childhood cancer with 3 State Governments – Punjab, Maharashtra and West Bengal.

For this Pan India Project, BHEL had come forward to utilise its CSR fund to help children with cancer from the 117 most developmentally challenged districts thereby making its own contribution to this important Programmeof Government of India.

Dr. Nalin Shinghal, CMD, BHEL said, “The Aspirational District Programme launched in 2018 is spearheaded by the Prime Minister himself. At the Central level it is steered by NITI Aayog in active partnership with state govts and district administration. CanKids is doing yeoman service for cancer-afflicted children, encompassing the entire spectrum of Childhood Cancer Care. Together with them we hope this Access2Care for childhood cancer ADP project will emerge as a best practice patient centred healthcare success story from these 117 districts.”

Started this project from March 2021, Cankids reached out to 15 state govts and NITI Aayog and received positive response from many states including a list of 25 kids from Wayanad district through District Collector.

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