The number of paediatric patients dropping out of the prescribed treatment regimen at Tata Memorial Centre has decreased from 25 per cent in 2009 to 4.4 per cent in 2015. Earlier, the largest chunk of parents would pull their children out in the first week, despite treatment for almost 60 per cent of patients being funded by the hospital. Sometimes a family had genuine reasons like presence of five other children back home who needed to be fed,” said Dr Sripad Banavali, head, department of paediatric oncology. While some, like St Jude’s, provide housing to the patient’s family, others like Cuddles arrange food for accompanying family members. “We don’t wait for the patients to ask for our help, we do that right at the start where Rs 20,000 is deposited for the initial tests,” said Dr Banavali.

Source: dna January 15, 2017 02:54 UTC