Our Mission
Transforming childhood cancer care through comprehensive medical projects and support services
- Provide and facilitate financial assistance for diagnosis and treatment of children with cancer, as per standards of care
- Partner with pediatric oncology professionals and advisors on specific childhood cancers
- Medical Projects and research to improve survival outcomes
- Advocate to improve availability, affordability, and quality of treatment, drugs, diagnostics, protocols, and standards
- Provide manpower and build capacities of healthcare professionals and institutions
Direct Services
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Working with drug and pharma companies, distributors, retailers, and hospitals to get the lowest/discounted rates for patient support for:
- Drugs and diagnostics
- Surgeries
- Radiation and chemotherapy
- Bone marrow transplants (BMT)
- Prosthesis
- After Cancer Treatment (ACT)
- Palliative care
- Adherence to globally and nationally accepted standards of treatment
Indirect Services
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Helping families access government welfare schemes and insurance, like:
- Ayushman Bharat Yojana (PMJAY)
- Rashtriya Aarogya Nidhi (Health Minister's Cancer Patients Fund)
- Prime Minister's National Relief Fund
- Chief Minister's Relief Fund
- Medical Capacity & Skill Building
- Research & Assessments
- Advocacy & Awareness
"No child should suffer for want of treatment for lack of finance."
Disease-Centered Projects
Tackling one cancer at a time
Survival rates can be as high as 90%. Cost of treatment is relatively low. Incidence in India is about 1500 new cases per year. This project commenced in July, 2015.
CanKids has sponsored the Indian Childhood Hodgkin's Lymphoma 1 Study, which aims to prospectively collect demographic, clinical, treatment, and outcome information on children with this disease in India, treated on a uniform ABVD based protocol. The study was conducted across 27 participating centers, with 408 patients enrolled.
The next study on Relapsed Hodgkin's Lymphoma is currently being rolled out. This continuation builds on the success of the first study and focuses on improving outcomes for children who experience disease recurrence.
Survival rates can be as high as 99%. The goal is to save lives, save eyes, and save vision. Incidence in India is 1500 to 2000 new cases per year. This project started in 2009.
We have spearheaded a 'Fight RB India' campaign, partnering with 55 retinoblastoma treating centres across the country. Our National Retinoblastoma Study aims to prospectively collect demographic, clinical, treatment and outcome information on children with retinoblastoma in India treated on a uniform protocol.
The study involves collecting comprehensive data on patient demographics, clinical presentation, staging, treatment protocols, and long-term outcomes. We also provide support for advanced diagnostic services, specialized chemotherapy drugs, and cutting-edge treatments like focal therapies and enucleation procedures when necessary.
Leukemias are the most common type of childhood cancers. Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia (ALL), also known as blood cancer, has survival rates as high as 92% in developed countries. Treatment can take up to 3 years, with an intensive 6-month induction phase followed by a 2-5 year maintenance period.
In India, ALL accounts for 25% of all childhood leukemias. In recent years there has been significant progress in terms of better diagnostics, improved risk stratification, enhanced infection control protocols, and substantial reduction in treatment-related toxic deaths.
CanKids's Golden Crab ALL Project commenced in February, 2017. In addition to providing comprehensive patient support, we launched specialized diagnostic services including flow cytometry, cytogenetics, BCR/ABL testing, and Minimum Residual Disease monitoring in February, 2017.
The project focuses on providing advanced diagnostic services including flow cytometry for immunophenotyping, cytogenetics for chromosomal analysis, molecular studies for specific genetic markers, and minimal residual disease monitoring to track treatment response and adjust therapy accordingly.
The project aims to improve the survival of children with bone tumours, as well as decrease the disease- and treatment-related morbidity. These cancers require complex, multidisciplinary treatment approaches involving surgery, chemotherapy, and sometimes radiation therapy.
This comprehensive program focuses on implementing advanced treatment protocols, providing access to specialized surgical interventions, and offering extensive supportive care measures to enhance outcomes for children facing these challenging cancers.
We work closely with orthopedic oncologists, pediatric oncologists, and rehabilitation specialists to ensure children receive the most appropriate and effective treatment while maintaining quality of life and functional outcomes.
The project encourages Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant (HSCT) centres to partner with us by subsidizing costs of treatment for patients from economically disadvantaged families. This life-saving procedure is often the only curative option for many high-risk cancers and blood disorders.
We provide comprehensive support to pediatric HSCT patients and their families throughout the entire transplant journey - before, during, and after their transplants - by providing relevant information, guidance, medical assistance, and psycho-social support.
Our support includes pre-transplant evaluations, donor identification assistance, financial support for the procedure, post-transplant care coordination, and long-term follow-up services to ensure the best possible outcomes for these critically ill children.
Medical Capacity & Skill Building
CanKids enables health professionals and social support teams to provide better standards of treatment and support through these comprehensive methods:
Weekly online meetings allow medical social workers to interact with our medical advisory board and senior management to make informed decisions on cases requiring patient support. These sessions also serve as valuable capacity building opportunities through structured case presentations and interactive teaching sessions.
The ECHO model (Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes) enables knowledge sharing and best practice dissemination across our network of partner institutions, ensuring consistent quality of care and continuous professional development.
This ambitious initiative focuses on increasing the number of dedicated nurses working in cancer treating units across the country. The project aims to optimize the nurse-to-patient ratio and improve education and training of all nurses working in pediatric oncology units across India.
We provide specialized training in pediatric oncology nursing, including chemotherapy administration, infection control, symptom management, and family support. The program also includes ongoing professional development opportunities and certification pathways.
Goal: Train and deploy 100 specialized pediatric oncology nurses to improve patient care standards and treatment outcomes across participating medical centers.
CanKids has provision for setting up Outreach Clinics at centers where, in the absence of designated Pediatric Oncologists, services are temporarily being provided either by a Pediatrician or a Medical Oncologist. The primary aim of this service is to provide Pediatric Oncology input and support to the treating Pediatrician/Medical Oncologist.
These partnership services include telemedicine consultations, on-site training programs, protocol development assistance, and ongoing mentorship to ensure that children receive appropriate specialized care regardless of their geographic location.
We also facilitate knowledge transfer through visiting specialist programs, where experienced pediatric oncologists provide hands-on training and support at partner institutions.
Through Regional Pediatric Oncology Forums, Fight RB India campaign, Regional Pediatric Oncology Networks, and various collaborative initiatives, we promote active collaboration and networking among all stakeholders in pediatric oncology.
Our stakeholder engagement includes healthcare professionals, government agencies, policy makers, pharmaceutical companies, diagnostic service providers, and patient advocacy groups. We facilitate regular meetings, conferences, and working groups to address systemic challenges in pediatric cancer care.
Key Activities: Policy advocacy, treatment guideline development, resource sharing agreements, joint research initiatives, and coordinated awareness campaigns to improve pediatric cancer outcomes nationwide.
