Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Dec 8: St Judes for Life, which was launched in November 2020, is in the process of enrolling more children who cross the five-year mark since diagnosis.
Currently, it has enrolled 767 children from across the country and the process is on for registering more than 700 children in the next financial year.
To ensure that children who stayed at the various St Judes Centres during their treatment are able to fulfill their potential, St Judes For Life was launched in 2020 in memory of Rani Vicaji.
St Jude India Childcare Centres provide a free ‘home away from home for underprivileged children undergoing cancer treatment. These children, accompanied by their parents, come from small villages and distant towns where medical cancer treatment is unavailable. St Judes provides free accommodation and holistic support including nutrition, transportation to hospitals, education, counseling, and recreation to them to improve their chances of beating cancer. St Judes currently has 40 Centres with 500 family units in nine cities: Mumbai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Chennai, Vellore, Guwahati, Delhi, and Varanasi.
St Judes for Life provides timely assistance to alumni (referred to as Judians) to complete their education, maintain good health and lead successful lives. These are children who are from underprivileged families from different parts of the country who have recovered from cancer and are back at their homes leading normal lives.
From the time of their enrolment, on being cancer free for five years since diagnosis of cancer, till they are independent and self-sufficient, St Judes for Life offers appropriate intervention, directly or through experienced partners, to support and mentor them. Support is offered for education through financial assistance, online courses and devices.
Any medical needs that may arise post-treatment are also funded. Counselling is a major support available particularly to teenagers. Career counselling is also provided to Judians from 9th grade. The vertical also engages with local NGO partners to provide Judians with opportunities to upgrade their vocational skills.
One of the biggest achievements for St Judes For Life in the last two years has been its collaboration with Chennai-based Star Health and Allied Insurance Company Limited, which resulted in the launch of a first-of-its-kind initiative to provide group health and accident insurance cover to cancer survivors. Traditionally, insurance companies avoid providing health insurance to cancer patients and survivors. The initiative covered 326 children under Health and Accident in its first year, and now all 767 Judians are covered.
The vertical also gives palliative care support to families who return home after treatment fails or disease recurs. To know more, one may visit their website: http://www.stjudechild.org
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