DTMT Network
Bhagwan Mahaveer Cancer Hospital in Jaipur offers a ray hope for children who have different forms of cancers but can’t get treatment due to poverty.

The hospital, which runs a 'Donate a Life Project' (DALP), has, since 2014, cured 84 children who had various blood cancers.

The hospital launched DALP in August, 2014, under which one could save the life of a child with cancer by  donating Rs. five lac for treatment. A total of 142 children suffering from the identified blood cancers were registered in DALP for receiving free anticancer treatment.

Of these, 103 children were suffering from Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL), 34 from Hodgkin’s Lymphoma (HD) and five from Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia (APML). Of the 93 children who received full treatment, 85 are today cancer free. However, eight of these patients could not be saved.

As per a hospital press statement, with the development of anticancer therapies, a number of cancers, especially in children, are today considered curable cancers. They are considered as curable as the success rate of effective treatment is more than 85%.

The three cancers amenable to curative treatment are ALL, APML and HD in childhood. The treatment is expensive and on an average costs Rs. five lac. Parents of a few children could afford the treatment, while most would withdraw from the treatment due to financial constraints.