Sanjeevani… Life Beyond Cancer founder Ruby Ahluwalia envisions making Goa a national hub for integrated cancer care in the country.
“Cancer does not discriminate, and neither do we. Our mission is to ensure that no one fights cancer alone,” said Ahluwalia who herself suffered from stage 3 metastatic breast cancer.
She added, “In 2009, when I suffered from cancer, I experienced the gap in care and realised that medical treatment alone cannot provide comfort for the soul, nor solace for the spirit. This made its way to establish Sanjeevani in Goa.”
Ahluwalia quit her civil service job two years ago to focus on building Sanjeevani as a national hub in Goa. This new centre is a clarion call for the people of Goa and the nation to rally behind cancer warriors.
Sanjeevani is a pioneering non-profit organisation and Ahluwalia chose Goa because the place has been a pilgrimage destination for her, visiting the state five times a year.
Over the last 13 years, Sanjeevani has impacted more than 1.2 million lives. What started as one caregiver assisting patients at Tata Memorial Hospital in 2012 has now grown into a nationwide movement for life beyond cancer.
Sanjeevani has a presence in 15 Indian states, supporting patients across 30 government and semi-government cancer super-specialty hospitals.
The award-winning registered public trust works in the field of comprehensive cancer care in the core areas of health, skill development and awareness through its programs designed for physical, psychological, and financial rehabilitation of cancer patients; skilling cancer survivors to become trained professional cancer caregivers and creating awareness on healthy lifestyle, prevention, and early detection of cancer.
Sanjeevani works with a community of health professionals to bring about a positive change in the way cancer patients face their challenges. They are: Chapter head Jigar Motta, community engagement lead Anita Pai Kamat, patron lead Vrida Tavora, holistic wellness lead Dr Sitakant Ghanekar, medical wellness lead Dr Priyanka Sahasrabhojanee, volunteer coordinator lead Ashwini Raga, research lead Kshipra Vora, team member community engagement Ujjwala Sinha and partnership lead Meena Parulekar.
Ahluwalia wishes to speak about her experiences as a cancer survivor to help people with cancer come out of their shells and share their traumatic journey.
“I want to be an example for others so that they feel comfortable to come out and talk about it,” adding further, she said, “Since past two years, I have noticed people of Goa shun away from talking
about cancer openly. Their refusal to open up will only create resistance in receiving support from the community.”
Sanjeevani works predominantly with underprivileged patients and the programs offered are free of cost to patients.
Ahluwalia said, “We navigate patients for the full spectrum from despair to rehabilitation and thus I think of Sanjeevani as a nation builder and not just an NGO.”
The centre aims to reach out to patients far and wide to access the comprehensive cancer care facility at Sanjeevani. They have a dedicated personal telecounselling service for patients with cancer who wish to keep their sufferings under wraps. The patients can call the helpline number at 8691000801.
