ASHIC
ASHIC is focused solely on Childhood Cancer. Underprivileged families living in far-flung villages have to travel to Dhaka, for specialised treatment for cancer. High cost and or late diagnosis means parents often discontinue treatment for their child and go back home, thus contributing to the previously high “Drop-Out Rate” as well as the poor “Survival Rate”. ASHIC provide palliative care for children with cancer. They also help with accommodation and cost of treatment. For those who need to return home with their dying child, doctors in the ASHIC palliative care unit have designed a program, teaching parents effective methods of palliative and hospice care, thus enabling parents to continue to care for the dying child at home during the last days their child’s life.
Image: ASHIC keeps handprints of all its patients
Local Dhaka resident Salma ASHIC’s founder is using her late father-in-law’s house as a clinic. She has employed doctors and palliative care nurses on a shoestring budget. When funds are short she meets the running costs from her personal income.
Ever since ASHIC started addressing the ordeals faced by families with a child suffering from cancer, there has been a remarkable increase in the Survival Rate of cancer children in Bangladesh. There has also been overall improvement in the quality of life of the terminal ill children as well as support for their families.
Without this help the poor would not be able to afford treatment or give their child a dignified end. Salma’s work is invaluable.
The Orphan Trust is committed to supporting the ASHIC foundation to enable it to continue its service by raising funds to support the running costs of the clinic.
Image: A patient with Leukemia
ASHIC's Impact
Rohan
Rohan was an only child and was doing fine until he was 13 years old. He started complaining about having pain and fatigue. As they were living in Dhaka his parents immediately consulted a doctor and seeing his biopsy report, the doctor diagnosed Rohan to be suffering from a cancer known as Non Hodgkin Lymphoma (NHL). The doctor started his cancer treatment with 9 cycles of chemotherapy. The treatment did not help him and as there was no improvement in his condition, the doctor from the hospital refused to continue his treatment and sent him to ASHIC Palliative Care Unit (PCU) for palliative treatment. When he came to ASHIC PCU, he was given full palliative care support free of cost and was sent to home with ASHIC ambulance support. He had come to the PCU 3 times in under a month but he lost the fight with cancer and sadly left this world for his parents to mourn his loss.