Mumbai, Nov 30 : Tata Memorial Hospital’s ImPaCCT Foundation, established in 2010, has achieved remarkable success in reducing treatment abandonment rates in paediatric cancer care from 25% in 2008 to just 2% in 2023. By combining advanced medical treatments with socio-economic interventions such as housing, education, nutrition, and counselling, the foundation has tackled financial hardships, gender bias, and cultural misconceptions, significantly improving survival rates to 58%.
Led by Shalini Jatia, Officer-in-Charge, and Dr. Shripad Banavali, Director of Academics at TMC, the foundation identified barriers through an in-depth survey of patients between 2009 and 2011. Challenges such as financial difficulties, lack of accommodation, inadequate transfusion support, and societal beliefs about cancer being incurable were addressed through targeted interventions.
Affordable housing for families, scholarships for education, vocational training, and mid-day meal programs are among ImPaCCT’s transformative efforts. The foundation also tackled gender bias, ensuring equitable access to treatment. Its Time Responsive Electronic Abandonment Tracking (TREAT) system, launched in 2010, enables real-time monitoring of patients, helping further reduce dropouts.
ImPaCCT’s success has inspired replication across TMC’s nine hospitals and beyond, supported by public-private partnerships and CSR funding. This holistic model showcases how addressing medical and socio-economic challenges can revolutionize paediatric cancer care and transform lives.
