NGO raises fund to feed undernourished kids with cancer

BENGALURU: In order to provide holistic nutritional support to undernourished cancer afflicted children, Cuddles Foundation, a Mumbai-based non-profit organisation held their first fundraiser in Bengaluru. "We provide nutritional supplementation, counselling among parents, caregivers and children, ration bundles including rice, wheat flour, moong dal, jaggery and other basic supplies to families fighting cancer to help feed nutritious meals to their child and continue the treatment," said Purnota Dutta Bahl, Founder and CEO of Cuddles Foundation. We have appointed trained nutritionist at several cancer hospitals in Mumbai, New Delhi, Pune, Chandigarh. We hired a nutritionist for Kidwai Memorial Institute of Oncology last year and we will tie up with St. Johns Hospital and Majumdar Shaw Centre in Bangalore, shortly," she added. Dr Brijesh Arora, professor in paediatric oncology and past convener of Paediatric Hemato-Lymphoid disease management group at TATA Memorial Hospital, said: "In India we treat 50,000 cancer afflicted children every year and 70% of them are under nourished. Malnutrition reduces the cancer cure rate by 50% when compared to the cure rate in a well-nourished child. It is high time that these children should be given proper nutrition in order to strengthen their body and capacitate it to survive the medical therapy." "There is an acute dearth of trained nutritionists who would carry out detailed nutritional assessments of the cancer afflicted children, administer nutritional supplement to them, counsel them along with their parents and caregivers," he added. The appointed nutritionist at Kidwai sees 40 patients in OPD, 30 in day care and 70 in IPD every day.