MADHYA PRADESH: After overcoming the pain of losing their daughter to breast cancer, a family of advocates in Madhya Pradesh’s Betul district has been fighting since 2015 for timely, free screening and treatment of all types of cancers in order to rescue people from the disease.
The Garg family, led by 93-year-old Radha Krishna Garg (perhaps the oldest active advocate), has been holding a cancer detection, treatment, and awareness camp one day during the winter since 2015. The nonagenarian advocate’s three advocate sons, Prashant, Navneet, and Mohit Garg, are leading this fight against cancer. They are the driving force behind a camp started in honour of their sister Madhulika Garg Agrawal, the oldest of the four siblings, who passed away from breast cancer on January 13, 2011, after a two-year battle with the fatal disease.
Since 2015, around 2,000 cancer patients have been diagnosed and treated through the Late Madhulika Garg Agrawal Memorial Cancer Detection-Treatment-Awareness Camp, which is run by the three advocate brothers at the Kothi Bazar branch of their family-run New Betul High School in Betul city. These patients come not only from Betul and the surrounding Harda, Narmadapuram, and Khandwa districts, but also from the nearby Amravati district in Maharashtra.
Each year, on a Saturday during one of the winter months, oncologists from Bhopal, Indore, Narmadapuram, Nagpur and Amravati pool their skills for no charge.
The camp started in 2015 with just four oncologists and 120-odd existing and new cancer patients, but the numbers grew to 23 oncologists and 442 patients this year, when the camp was organized recently on November 12. The camp, which is now in its seventh year but was unable to be held in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, saw a maximum of 665 new and current cancer patients being screened and treated by 17 oncologists from MP and Maharashtra in 2021.
“After losing our lone sister in 2011, we established scholarships for female students for a few years before realising that the government and other organisations also conduct similar programmes. We started this one day camp in 2015 after realising that not all cancer patients could afford their treatment and that my sister’s family had enough money to pay for her treatment at the best cancer treatment facility in Mumbai and to import the most expensive injections from abroad. With the exception of 2020, seven of these one-day camps have been held annually since that time, said Mohit Garg, the youngest of the three lawyer brothers.
In addition to conducting cancer screenings, the Garg family and other like-minded supporters of their programme have partnered with the Indian Cancer Society to provide free cancer treatment at one of the Society’s partner cancer treatment centres located in Padhar (Betul).
Additionally, the Garg family has placed two dedicated employees at their school to provide cancer patients with 24x7 all types of cancer detection-treatment, follow-ups, including connecting them to charitable donors funding cancer patients’ treatments, and obtaining benefits under the Ayushman Bharat National Health Protection Scheme.
“We also provide free ambulances to people in need so they may reach cancer treatment facilities in Betul and surrounding South West MP districts as well as surrounding Maharashtra regions. Additionally, we’ve partnered with the Pharmacists Association of Betul to provide free medications to the majority of underprivileged cancer patients. Additionally, on the day of the annual Saturday winter camp, we provide free bus transportation for cancer patients and one companion to and from across Betul district as well as free auto rickshaw transportation to and from the camp in Betul city, according to Mohit Garg.
The state government has also offered its assistance after being moved by the determination of the Garg family and their friends, including former hockey player and blood cancer patient, Hemant Dube. “Up to this point, the Rotary Club of Mumbai’s Mammography equipment van has provided the mammography (X-ray for finding breast cancer) equipment at our camp. However, the Betul District Hospital will have its mammography equipment in two months, according to a recent announcement by the state’s agriculture minister Kamal Patel. Additionally, every year during the camp, the district government and local health department workers work diligently with us on the ground,” Garg added.
Since this year, the camp organisers have also brought in spiritual gurus and mental health professionals from Bhopal to help de-stress current and new cancer patients and foster hope that cancer can be successfully fought and defeated. The Oncologists still donate one day of their time each year to the camp at no cost to participants.
“I did it with medicines and my passion for hockey to control blood cancer. Passion and a good attitude are needed combined with medications and therapy to win the battle against cancer. The current programme in Betul is also aimed at fostering a good attitude among cancer patients,” said the former hockey centre forward Hemant Dube, a blood cancer survivor from Betul who has worked with the hardworking team at the New Betul High School since 2017.
The Garg family and their friends, notably Hemant Dube, have been hosting Cancer Awareness Camps followed by wall painting contests annually in the schools of the Betul district because they are aware that early cancer diagnosis is impossible without constant public awareness. The best wall paintings are then awarded awards in competitions between school students on cancer awareness.
“We can only hope to eradicate cancer through early diagnosis when our children and grandchildren are properly informed about the disease. This is what the awareness campaigns in schools that are followed by the wall-painting competitions help us achieve, according to Dube, who is also personally involved in raising awareness of cancer.
Radiation oncologist Dr Yogesh Jain of Bhopal, who has been involved with the once daily winter camp in Betul for the past two years, praised the Garg brothers’ unwavering fight against cancer and said that if similar initiatives were to be launched in all of MP’s districts, the state’s rising cancer burden could be successfully treated. The Rajoria family in the neighbouring Harda district is organising a similar one-day camp every year.