Every year, nearly 50,000 children are diagnosed with cancer in India. Of these, almost 50% cannot afford treatment and succumb to the disease. In an earnest attempt to address this distressing reality, Vidyashilp Academy and Humanist Centre for Medicine set up the VSA Cancer Care Fund in December 2020.

In less than a month, VSA Cancer Care Fund has supported the treatment of five paediatric cancer patients at Cytecare Cancer Hospitals, the knowledge partner and key supporter of the Fund. For 2021, the endeavour is to provide financial assistance for the treatment of 50 children suffering from cancer.

At Vidyashilp Academy’s recent online fest ‘Metanoia’ – the students successfully raised funds for creating an initial corpus for VSA Cancer Care Fund. Through exciting book clubs, quizzes, gaming tournaments as well as a music and dance concert, students from the school not only raised awareness about paediatric cancer but also spearheaded the process of fund mobilisation for the treatment of children from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds.

Speaking about the commendable initiative, Kalai Selvi, Principal Vidyashilp Academy said, “Inspired by the Humanist Centre for Medicine’s incredible work in the area of cancer awareness and funding support, we started VSA Cancer Care Fund to support the diagnosis and treatment of paediatric cancer patients last month.”

Dr Jogin Desai, Co-Founder, Humanist Centre for Medicine noted, “Humanist is honoured to be associated with VSA Cancer Care Fund, an inspiring initiative by Vidyashilp Academy and Cytecare Cancer Hospitals to save the lives of children suffering from cancer. This is a truly exceptional project that addresses one of the most crucial public health challenges.”