On Sunday, 9 October 2022 CanSupport partnered with Dharamshila Rahat Medical Centre for ‘Healing Hearts and Communities – A Music Concert’ by the renowned ghazal singer Dr Radhika Chopra to Celebrate World Hospice & Palliative Care Day 2022 at NCUI Auditorium, Delhi.
This year's World Hospice & Palliative Care Day theme being ‘Healing Hearts and Communities’, the event was titled the same and was aimed at bringing people in the community together.
The chief guest at the event was Dr Sushma Bhatnagar - the Chief at Dr BR Ambedkar Institute Rotary Cancer Hospital, AIIMS Delhi and the President of Indian Association of Palliative Care.
In her keynote address, Dr Bhatnagar said, “The care that CanSupport teams give to those living with cancer, in their homes is unimaginable. Every doctor, nurse and counsellor at CanSupport is very disciplined and respectful towards everyone. That’s what every patient wants – Respect. This is what Palliative Care is about.”
The other prominent people to attend the event were – Dr Survesha Khanna, the founder of Dharamshila Rahat Medical Centre, Sophie Ahmad, the former Managing Committee member of CanSupport, Dr Ambika Rajvanshi, the CEO of CanSupport and the RWA presidents of many colonies in South Delhi that are around CanSupport’s Palliative Care Training center and headquarters in Gulmohar Park.
While addressing the audience at the event, the founder of Dharamshila Rahat Medical Center said that Palliative Care is a specialized care of people living with life threatening diseases by a multidisciplinary team. CanSupport has been providing this care free of charge with tremendous dedication for 25 years now in patients’ homes and Dharamshila Rahat Medical Center was also launched this year in July to offer Palliative Care at the center. v
Dr Radhika Chopra, the renowned ghazal singer who sang at the event pro bono, mesmerized the audience not only with her flawless singing but also with her warmth. During her performance she praised CanSupport and its work and appealed to the audience to support and donate to CanSupport generously.
In her message on World Hospice and Palliative Care Day, Harmala Gupta, Founder & President – CanSupport said, “This year’s theme for World Hospice & Palliative Care Day – Healing Hearts and Communities – has in mind the losses that people all over the world have suffered during the covid-19 pandemic. The burnout we have witnessed among care providers and the rise in mental health issues at large is testimony to this. We use this occasion to thank our CanSupport team of staff, volunteers and donors. Let us use this occasion to all join together as a caring community to assist those who still need our support and who are hurting from the loss of a loved one because of cancer, covid or any other life limiting condition.”
The event lived up to its theme of ‘Healing Hearts and Communities’. Each attendee went back feeling refreshed and uplifted.