Cuddles Foundation launches in Delhi to provide food for children undergoing cancer treatment at AIIMS
A media interaction with Dr Bakshi, AIIMS and Purnota Dutta Bahl, Founder, Cuddles Foundation
1 PM, November 7, 2016 at Radisson Blu Marina G-59 Connaught Circus, New Delhi
What if you were told that we lose a classroom full of kids undergoing cancer treatment every single day to malnutrition?
What if we told you that 30% of children under treatment survive cancer but die due to avoidable infections because their bodies are too weak to fight?
What if we told you that 1 in every 3 children is forced to abandon cancer treatment because their bodies can’t stand chemotherapy?
What if we told you that even if underprivileged children manage to raise funds for treatment, they are unable to start treatment due to malnourishment?
And what if we told you that a simple solution to all of the above is Nutrition!
Introducing Cuddles Foundation, the only NGO in the country focusing on the issue of malnutrition amongst underprivileged children fighting cancer. In the short span of 3 years since their inception the NGO has seen meteoric expansion in its operations.
Cuddles Foundation works through tie-ups with the government and charity hospitals like Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai, AIIMS Hospital, New Delhi, PGIMER, Chandigarh, Kidwai Memorial, Bengaluru, SGPGI, Lucknow and NRS Medical College, Kolkata and its programs include, without being limited to, capacity building at hospitals, nutritional supplementation, midday meals in OPD and providing ration baskets to the needy families.
Currently it is working with more than 18,000 children, out of whom approximately 30% are new enrolments, across 17 hospitals and 9 cities per year and reaches out to more than 3,000 kids every month.
As per a report released by Tata Memorial Hospital, the treatment abandonment rate has gone down from 20% to 3.7%, the biggest contributor to this being nutrition.
The impact numbers are so powerful that celebs like Sonam Kapoor, Purab Kohli and Business stalwarts like Neerja Birla are passionate spokespeople of the cause.
Sonam says, “The cause Cuddles Foundation is working towards touched my heart as soon as I knew about it. The word cancer by itself is terrifying and even more when you learn about the pain children have to go through during treatment, you immediately want to do the best you can to help them. The team at Cuddles Foundation is doing a remarkable job. It feels wonderful to be involved and associated with an NGO like this who not only help the children in need but also assist their families by providing food, support and education about this dreaded disease and the right nutrition.”
In Delhi, Cuddles Foundation is a strategic partner for holistic nutrition support for the patients at the OPD of the Institute Rotary Cancer Hospital at AIIMS which is spearheaded by Dr Sameer Bakshi.
Dr Bakshi from AIIMS says, “Everybody knows about the importance of diagnosis, medicines and good, timely treatment for cancer, but the fact that a healthy lifestyle and right nutrition is equally required for recovery isn’t talked about. Cuddles Foundation is doing exactly that by providing the required nutrition and knowledge to the children who need it the most. The fact is that childhood cancer is curable provided it is detected on time and the right steps are taken to fight the disease, one important step being offering nourishment to these malnourished children especially during treatment so their bodies gain strength to withstand the treatment and recover quickly.”
Cuddles Foundation is associated with the IRCH and Dr Bakshi since January 2015. Cuddles Foundation has sponsored a 3 year research grant to AIIMS with an aim to ‘establish a nutritional counseling program and to develop a nutritional database in pediatric patients with cancer.’ Under this grant Cuddles Foundation is sponsoring :
– A trained nutritionist in the field of pediatric oncology nutrition who counsels the patients in the OPD.
– Branded OTC Protein supplementation like threptin biscuits, B Protein powder, simyl mct powders etc
– Monthly ration for 15 families every month which supports the child and 2 adults of the family. This bundle consists of 24 items including high quality wheat, rice, dals, til, jaggery etc to ensure that the child gets the required nutrition while at the home/ temporary accommodation.
– Mid meal snack supplementation in the OPD: Every child who visits the OPD gets a banana and lassi. This makes sure that the child does not go hungry while waiting (in the crowded OPD) for their turn to see the doctors.
For information on Cuddles Foundation, please view : www.cuddlesfoundation.com;
For media enquiries, please contact PR Works :
Phone: 011-24335196 Telefax: 011-41552874
Email: mail@prworks.co.in; shalini.prworks@gmail.com
The Approach
Cuddles Foundation uses a 4 pronged approach to support as many children and families as possible:
Nutritional Guidance and Counselling: Our nutritionists and social workers work tirelessly to counsel and advise the children, parents and caregivers. They perform the critical function of ensuring that the children get the needful nutritional guidance care not only at the hospital but also at home.
Nutritional Supplementation: We provide children with nutritional supplements, mid-day meals, eggs, fruits, ready-to-use therapeutic foods and other related products that help build their immunity and increase their chances of coping successfully with the strong chemotherapy sessions.
Ration Program: We provide 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 stay for the treatment.
Research: We conduct groundbreaking studies on the impact of nutritional intervention in collaboration with Tata Memorial Hospital and AIIMS. These studies further help in creating awareness about the cause.
Achievements
– Cuddles Foundation received the ‘Best New NGO Award’ in 2013-14, at the prestigious CanIndia Conclave for its significant social impact.
– Successfully deployed a team of 25 nutritionists stationed at 16 hospitals in India, the first of its kind in the country.
– Mentor to NGOs like Annam, Mumbai.
– Forged corporate ties ups with Mondelez, Britannia, Aditya Birla group, Anand Rathi Wealth Management, Jewelex, JLL India and many more.
– Planned and executed successful fund raisers annual events across Mumbai, Bangalore.
– Built a dedicated donor group of 500+ individual donors, providing consistent funding.
– Advocated the cause of nutritional support for children with cancer within the medical fraternity as well as the corporate.
– Co-host and core team member of the SIOP (International Society of Paediatric Oncology), National conference on nutrition held in conjunction with Tata Memorial Hospital for the past 2 years.
Purnota Dutta Bahl
Founder and CEO
Cuddles Foundation
Purnota holds an MBA from the Indian School of Business and started her career as the Brand Manager, HT Media Ltd. (Mumbai, New Delhi) over a decade ago. Soon she moved on to being the Head of Marketing in one of India’s best known brands where she led the national and global business development drives apart from Revenue Management across the globe. Her areas of expertise include fundraising, strategy and marketing; she also planned and administered the company’s marketing operations and development of regional marketing budgets.
Her Cuddles Foundation journey started as a small drive with a strong belief amongst her friends and family, after she visited the Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai. A mother to three beautiful daughters, when she came across families of children undergoing cancer treatment experience a sea of challenges including lack of funds and access to nutritious meals, she decided to combine her love and expertise to reach out to them. She realised healthy and nutritious meals and supplements are a luxury to most of these underprivileged families.
In addition to ensuring smooth operations, Purnota is a guide and mentor to her team. She has also represented Cuddles Foundation at international platforms such as the International workshop on Nutrition under the aegis of the International Society of Paediatric Oncology (SIOP), attended by top oncologists and experts in the field on Nutrition for Paediatric Oncology.
With integrity, compassion and truth as the core values at Cuddles Foundation, Purnota believes, “It is the work that we do that will make the brand”.
Professor Sameer Bakhshi
Department of Medical Oncology
Dr. B. R. A. Institute Rotary Cancer Hospital, All India Institute of Medical Sciences
New Delhi-110029; Tel # 91-11-26589200 Ext 5237; Email: sambakh@hotmail.com
Education & Professional Experience
- Faculty in Medical Oncology
Professor July 2013 till date
Additional Professor July 2009 till June 2013
Associate Professor July 2006 to June 2009
Assistant Professor June 2003 to July 2006
Dr. B.R.A. Institute Rotary Cancer Hospital, AIIMS, New Delhi.
- Faculty Assistant Professor (April 2002-June 2003), Department of Pediatrics, AIIMS, New Delhi.
- Hematology and Oncology Fellowship (November 1999-April 2002) at Children’s Hospital of Michigan, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA.
- Resident (July 1997–October 1999) at Children’s Hospital of Michigan, Wayne State University, Detroit, USA.
- Pediatric Senior Resident (September 1996-June 1997) at AIIMS, New Delhi.
- Research Officer in Hematology Oncology (March 1996-September 1996) in Indo-US project “Characterisation and treatment of lymphoid malignancies” in Department of Pediatrics, AIIMS, New Delhi.
- M.D. Pediatrics (January 1993–January 1996) at AIIMS, New Delhi.
- M.B.B.S. (August 1987-December 1992) at JIPMER, Pondicherry.
Clinical Responsibilities as Faculty
– Faculty in charge for Pediatric Oncology
– Pediatric Bone Marrow Transplantation
– Faculty incharge from Medical Oncology perspective of following clinics:
– Pediatric Surgical Tumor Clinic
– Bone and Soft Tissue Sarcoma Clinic
– Ophthalmic Tumor Clinic
Achievements as Clinical Faculty
– Augmented the chemotherapy aspects of Bone and Soft Tissue Sarcoma Clinic.
– Performed more than 200 stem cell transplantations in children with cancer.
– Performed more than 18 cord blood stem cell transplantations for malignancies
– Initiated multiple research projects related to Leukemia, Lymphoma, retinoblastoma and Adult Bone and Soft Tissue Sarcomas.
Current Positions
– Chairperson for – Indian Pediatric Oncology Group (In POG) under Indian Academy of Pediatrics (Group for Holding Collaborative Research in Oncology) 2015-2017
– Chairperson for Subcommittee on Acute Myeloid Leukemia in In POG 2015-2017
– Member Secretary, AIIMS Institute Ethics Committee, since Jan 2016
– Convener for Formulating National Guidelines, for Treatment of Pediatric Lymphomas and Solid Tumors under Indian Council of Medical Research
– Expert Member for the Office of the Drug Controller General of India for Oncology Related Drug Trials and New Drug Approvals since January 2015
Awards
– Adjudged as the Best Outgoing Student of M.B.B.S. from J.I.P.M.E.R., Pondicherry in 1992.
– Awarded the National Neonatology Forum (NNF) Gold Medal Award for the best research paper in Neonatology at Madras in 1994.
– Awarded Dr. M.L. WIG Gold Medal Award for the best Clinical Research at A.I.I.M.S., New Delhi, in 1995.
– Awarded Sheldon L. Brenner Resident Research Award for Outstanding research in residency training at Children’s Hospital of Michigan, Detroit, MI, USA in 1999.
– AIIMS Excellence Award – 2012 for outstanding published research work during the year 2011-2012.
– AIIMS Excellence Award – 2013 for outstanding published research work during the year 2012-2013.
– AIIMS Excellence Award – 2016 for outstanding published research work during the year 2015-2016.
– Indian Journal of Pediatrics : Dr. IC Verma Oration for Young Investigator for Excellence in Research- 2016
PUBLICATIONS
– Publications in Indexed Journal: 285
– Publications in Non Indexed Journals: 9
– Book Chapters: 7
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