NEW DELHI: In a sign of growing philanthropy among top Indian corporate czars, IndiGo’s former president
Aditya Ghosh will now be a senior advisor to Tata Trusts Cancer Care Initiative. Ghosh says he will devote 20% of this time to this cause.
Ghosh said: “India has nearly 15 lakh new cancer cases every year. Unfortunately, most cases are detected at a very late stage and treatment for patients is either expensive or simply hard to get to. I have decided to dedicate about 20% of my personal time over the next several months as senior advisor to the core team of the TATA Trusts Cancer Care Initiative, one of the largest healthcare programs of its kind in the world.”
“The goal is lofty and yet simple - to create an extensive network of cancer treatment across hundreds of districts in India. A patient centric approach so that patients don’t have to go far and get speedy and affordable care,” Ghosh said.
The Tata Trusts website describes its Cancer Care Initiative as “a pioneering move in medical history made when Tata Trusts translated its philanthropic sentiments into reality through the creation of Tata Memorial Hospital in 1941 as ‘a beacon of hope for the hopeless’. This was the first of many such path-breaking endeavours by the Trusts in the field of cancer care. Tata Memorial Hospital was handed over to the Ministry of Health in 1962 for greater good and in the interest of the nation.
“However, the Trusts’ vision and drive to fight this dreaded disease has been evident through several of its initiatives, the chief among them being the development of Tata Medical Center in Kolkata in 2012, to combat the high cancer prevalence in north-east states and the lack of suitable facilities in the region. Education and research in oncology to improve treatment modalities are areas that both hospitals have been engaged in, as well as models to improve access to affordable methods for treatment,” Tata Trusts’ website says.
“Increasingly, the Trusts have recognised the need to shift focus from curative to awareness and early detection programmes, in order to detect the disease as early as possible and lessen the ensuing morbidity and mortality caused by the disease. As a result the Trusts have embarked upon several initiatives, from implementing the National Cancer Grid — a network of 108 cancer hospitals in India — along with Tata Memorial Hospital to conducting a proof-of-concept in cross-subsidised screening programmes for certain types of cancers. The purpose of all initiatives, including exploring the possibilities of genetic tests revolutionising the approach to cancer screening and diagnostics, is to ensure greater awareness about and accessibility to cancer screening, diagnosis and treatment,” it says.
