On August 3, 2022, CanSupport inaugurated its first palliative care centre at Rohtak in partnership with the Cipla Foundation and Pandit Bhagwat Dayal Sharma University of Health Sciences, Rohtak.

The inaugural ceremony took place in an auditorium inside the UHSR campus.

Dr Prakash Fernandes, Head - Palliative Care Partnerships, Cipla Foundation graced the occasion as the guest of honour. Other distinguished guests present were - Dr Anita Saxena, Vice Chancellor, UHSR, Professor H.K. Aggarwal, Registrar, UHSR, Dr Vivek Kaushal, Head of Radiation Oncology and the senior team from CanSupport.

Dr Ravinder Mohan - Director NDPS compliance, CanSupport delivered the welcome address, followed by a presentation on CanSupport and its Rohtak project by Dr Ambika Rajvanshi, CEO of CanSupport.

In his keynote address, Dr Prakash Fernandes said, “We are delighted to partner with CanSupport, who’s been our first partner. We started in 2016, in Pune, but wanted to expand across India and CanSupport was our first partner. It’s the humility, the strategic vision that CanSupport has which we really appreciate and we look forward to CanSupport expanding in North India, in Haryana in particular.”

Even though the formal inauguration of the centre took place on August 3, the Rohtak centre opened in June and is operational since then.

Two of our home care beneficiaries also attended the inaugural ceremony. Ram Pal Shastri shared that his mother is suffering from cancer. Three months ago, he was advised by her doctors to keep her at home since there was no further treatment that could be given. He contacted CanSupport’s Rohtak team and since then, the home care team from CanSupport has been looking after his mother at home really well. All his mother’s symptoms are very well managed by the team at home. He further expressed his gratitude by saying that “This partnership between CanSupport, Cipla Foundation and UHSR was definitely benefiting the people of Rohtak.”

The other home care beneficiary Deepak, whose mother is enrolled with our home care team in Rohtak, shared, “My mother wanted me to be a doctor, but with meagre means to accomplish it, I did by graduation in Arts. When my mother was enrolled in the care of the CanSupport team, they taught me how to push medication through sub-cutaneous cannula and help her with various medical and nursing assistance. Seeing me ‘being her doctor’ CanSupport has sort of fulfilled my mother’s dream. With this education, we are not dependent on others but can effectively take control of her care.”

Speaking at the event, Dr Anita Saxena, Vice Chancellor, UHSR shared how three months prior the team at UHSR were sitting, trying to figure out how to have CanSupport associate with their hospital as was directed by the Niti Aayog chief, Dr Vinod Nagpal and we thought it was a great idea. “And here we are! Not only is CanSupport helping our patients but also helping us because, as Dr Kaushal said that we are not able to devote as much time to our patients as we should as far as palliative care goes. The challenge is that we have a lot of patients and second, they all come to us very late. I think palliative care should be given early on as well as to those who come to us with advanced disease. Palliative care should not be looked at as the last resort. Not just pain management but also psychosocial support to the family and caregivers, palliative care covers a large spectrum of care. I thank CanSupport for choosing us as one of its partners.”

Professor H.K. Aggarwal, Registrar–UHSR said, “It is a great moment to witness such a unique partnership between a treating hospital, a palliative care organisation, and a company to ease the agony of cancer patients and their families.”

Dr Vivek Kaushal, Head of Radiation Oncology, added saying, “I came across the concept of home based care while I was in London in late 1980s and I am now seeing it happen in collaboration with our hospital. It is much needed and I am so relieved to know that when therapies no longer help our patients, there is an organisation who will work to see they have a good quality of life.”

To refer patients to our Rohtak centre, please call:
Rohtak Helpline Number: +91 928941009