Manipal AccessLife  provides a loving and temporary home for the parent or care taker and the child undergoing the treatment for cancer. The mission is to offer a home-like environment for these families and we also try to improve the quality of life of these children by providing practical support services, educational resources and recreational programs.

The Center, dubbed ‘Home away from Home’ for children with cancer and their caregivers, provides free accommodation, nutrition, counseling, and education support services for them.

This is a joint venture of Kasturba Medical College and Hospital, MAHE Manipal, and Accesslife and was conceived in 2019 by the division of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology (PHO),  Kasturba Medical College and Kasturba Hospital, Manipal .

MAHE had developed  a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with this foundation as more than 2/3rd of children with cancer taking treatment in the Division of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology of Kasturba Hospital were from rural interiors of Karnataka.

MAHE provided two residential quarters close to the hospital and Access Life Assistance Foundation renovated it and made it into a hygienic accommodation that can host 12 families at any given time.

All these facilities come at no extra cost to the patient and the operational cost for the center would be borne largely by the Access Life Assistance Foundation.

AccessLife MAHE, Manipal Center is located opposite Energy Cell, near BQ road, Madhavanagar, Manipal. Access Life Assistance Foundation, India is a Non-profit organization registered company, providing multi-disciplinary supportive care to families who come to the cancer center for their child’s cancer treatment.

They offer accommodation, a hygienic environment, nutritional meals, counseling, recreational and educational support, both for the children and their parents during the entire duration of treatment which goes to the duration of 3-6 months and sometimes even a year.

The PHO division receives support for the SDG 3 activities through CSR funding which is applied every year.

CSR activities linked to the division includes

1.       Funding for children with cancer and bone marrow transplant

2.       Equipment funding

3.       Funding for nutrition supplements

4.       Funding for accommodation

5.       Funding for Personnel

6.       Funding for scholarships of cancer survivors

Funding for children with cancer and bone marrow transplant

The funding for this is through multinational companies which support the children for complete treatment adoption for treatment of cancer/ bone marrow transplant (Both allogeneic and autologous transplant), central line insertion, palliative care and for emergency as seed funds.

The current CSR funds available for the same is Rs 2, 00, 00,000 (Two crores) every year as direct funding through Kotak Securities, India.

Many other NGO’s provide support for initial treatment funding, adoption of treatment through the CSR funds they have received. Some of the NGO’s associated with the above include Yuvraj Singh Foundation, Indian Cancer Society and Bansi Vidya Memorial trust and One Good step foundation.

Equipment funding

The funding for many equipment’s in the division have been procured through CSR Funds of multinational companies. The equipment’s acquired so far include

a)       Teaching microscope with camera- Approx Rs 1.3 lacs

b)      Biosafety cabinet- Approx Rs 3.75 lacs

c)       Syringe pumps- 8 in number worth Rs 1.6 lacs

d)      Infusion pumps- 12 in number worth Rs 4 lacs

Funding for nutrition supplements

As funds for nutritional supplements are not available through various schemes and nutrition plays an important role in management of children with cancer, the supplements are procured through CSR funds via many NGO’s like Cuddles Foundation and Indian Cancer Society through a Memorandum of Understanding with the Hospital/University. The estimated cost of the supplements is around Rs. 4 lacs every quarter of the financial year.

Funding for Accommodation

As cancer patients need to stay in and around the hospital for the whole duration of therapy, our University joined hands with a NGO named Access Life Assistance Foundation, through which lot of CSR funds were utilized for both capital expenditure as well as operational costs. The accommodation facility provides hygienic environment for children and their caregivers free of cost along with provision of cooking and non-formal education. Such a facility is first of its kind in the state of Karnataka. The approximate capital expenditure required was Rs. 1.3 crores while the operational costs come to around Rs. 48 lacs per year.

Access Life MAHE Manipal Centre - YouTube

Funding for Personnel

The division has a separate nutritionist and medical social worker, both salaries are supported via NGO’s though CSR activities. The NGO’s namely Cuddles Foundation and Aroh Foundation have a Memorandum of Understanding with the Hospital/University and the personnel work as full time as per the hospital rules.

Funding for scholarships of cancer survivors

Every child hailing from lower socio economic strata who has completed treatment for cancer is supported by scholarships which ensure that these children enroll themselves to schools and pursue their field of interest. The scholarships are provided directly to the school/colleges by Yuvraj Singh Foundation and Indian Cancer Society.

Publications:

1.       Bhat, Vasudeva K1 and Rao, Krithika S and Kalasekhar, Vijayasekharan and Venkatagiri, Archana Mevalegire and Ashwini, S and Singhai, Pankaj and Rao, Seema Rajesh and Gupta, Mayank and Salins, Naveen Sulakshan (2021) Evaluating the Need for Integrated Pediatric Palliative Care Services in a Pediatric Oncology Setting: A Retrospective Audit. Indian Journal of Palliative Care, 27 (2). pp. 286-290. ISSN 0973-1075

2.       Mailankody, Sharada and Rao, Seema Rajesh (2021) “PENS” approach for breaking bad news—a short and sweet way! Supportive Care in Cancer, 29. pp. 1157-1159. ISSN 0941-4355

3.       Mailankody, Sharada (2021) Resource-appropriate selection of osteosarcoma treatment protocols in low- and middle-income countries. Pediatric Blood & Cancer, 69 (25). pp. 1-13. ISSN 1545-5009

4.       Gupta, Vishal and Shivaprakash, G and Bhattacherjee, Dipanjan and Udupa, Karthik S and Sori, Ravi K and Mishra, Shubhangi (2020) Association of health literacy and cognition levels with severity of adverse drug reactions in cancer patients: a South Asian experience. International Journal of Clinical Pharmacy, 42 (4). pp. 1168-1174. ISSN 2210-7703

5.       Udupa, Chethana Babu K and Udupa, Karthik Subramanaya and Pai, Ananth and Sherigar, Prathika (2020) Cytogenetics and Revised International Staging System (R-ISS): Risk Stratification in Multiple myeloma - A Retrospective Study in Indian Population. Iranian Journal of Pathology, 15 (3). pp. 182-188. ISSN 2345-3656

6.       Kalasekhar, VS (2020) Favorable outcomes and reduced toxicity with a novel vinblastine-based non-high dose methotrexate (HDMTX) regimen (modified MCP-842) in pediatric anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL): experience from India. Leukemia & Lymphoma, 61 (4). pp. 912-918. ISSN 1029-2403

7.       Kalasekhar, VS (2020) High response rates and promising outcomes of patients with relapsed ewing sarcoma, especially in adolescents and young adults treated on a novel hybrid salvage chemotherapy regimen. Journal of Adolescent And Young Adult Oncology, 10 (2). pp. 185-192. ISSN 2156-5333

8.       Adiga, Satish Kumar and Tholeti, Prathima and Udupa, Karthik S (2020) Installing oncofertility programs for common cancers in limited resource settings (Repro-Can-OPEN Study): An extrapolation during the global crisis of Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Journal of Assisted Reproduction and Genetics, 37. pp. 1567-1577. ISSN 1058-0468

9.       Tholeti, Prathima and Uppangala, Shubhashree and Bhat, Vasudeva and Udupa, Karthik S and Kumar, Vijay and Kalthur, Guruprasad and Adiga, Satish Kumar (2020) Oncofertility: knowledge, attitudes, and barriers among indian oncologists and gynecologists. Journal of Adolescent And Young Adult Oncology. pp. 1-7. ISSN 2156-5333

10.   Kalasekhar, VS (2020) Prognostic Value of 18F-FDG PET/CT—Metabolic Parameters at Baseline and Interim Assessment in Pediatric Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma. Clinical Nuclear Medicine, 45 (3). pp. 182-186. ISSN 0363-9762

11.   Kalasekhar, VS (2020) Sudden blast phase in pediatric chronic myeloid leukemiachronic phase with abnormal lymphoid blasts detected by flow cytometry at diagnosis: Can it be considered a warning sign? Cytometry Part B - Clinical Cytometry, 100 (3). pp. 345-351. ISSN 1552-494

 

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