Cuddles Foundation, a Mumbai - based non-profit organization, is the only NGO in the country focusing on the issue of malnutrition amongst underprivileged children fighting cancer. Currently, Cuddles is working with approximately 18,000 children, out of whom about 30 per cent are new enrollment, across 17 hospitals and nine cities per year. Each child’s records are maintained to ensure that critical indicators like weight, mid-upper arm circumferences etc are in the prescribed ranges. The treatment abandonment rates are down from 20 per cent to 3.7 per cent and this can be directly attributed to nutrition at the Tata Memorial Hospital.
Cuddles Foundation which started its operations in 2012, in a short span of three years , has seen meteoric expansion in its operations. Cuddles Foundation works through tie-ups with the government and charity hospitals like Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai and AIIMS Hospital, New Delhi, PGIMER, Chandigarh, Kidwai Memorial, Bengaluru, SGPGI, Lucknow and NRS Medical College, Kolkata . Its programs include capacity building at hospitals, nutritional supplementation, midday meals in OPD and providing ration baskets to the needy families.
My Cuddles Foundation journey started as a small drive with a strong belief amongst my friends and family, after a visit to the Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai. Since I have three daughters , when I came across families of children undergoing cancer treatment experiencing a sea of challenges including lack of funds and access to nutritious meals, I decided to combine my love and expertise to reach out to them. Leveraging my MBA from the Indian School of Business and a career as the brand manager HT Media Ltd Cuddles was formed so that no child would lose its fight against cancer due to malnutrition.
Families of children suffering from cancer go through various challenges at various levels, apart from the emotional turmoil that comes as a part and parcel of this deadly disease. One of the biggest challenge is providing the child with the right nutrition at the right time. Eating the right kinds of foods before, during, and after treatment can help the patient handle the treatment well, feel better, stay stronger, heal and recover faster. Nutrition is the stepping stone to cancer cure.
Approximately 40 per cent of the kids lose their battle to cancer because their little bodies are not able to assimilate chemotherapy due to malnourishment. After their treatment starts they get into episodes of toxicity, seizures, infections of the gut etc. Unfortunately most families of these children fail to provide them with the right health supplements because of lack of knowledge, support and even financial aid.
Many families of such children who travel to cities like Mumbai and New Delhi to seek treatment face various challenges including accommodation, lack of funds and most importantly, access to nutrition meals, which is most important during the treatment period.Cuddles aims to fill in these gaps.
Programs offered by Cuddles
Cuddles Foundation realized that the right nutritional intervention and counseling makes the difference between survival and death. In association with Tata Memorial Hospital, Cuddles is also in the process of enhancing the education of nutritionists to enable them to be competent in the super specialized fields of Paediatric Oncology Nutrition. This is done by hosting various conferences like SIOP-PODC (International Society of Paediatric Oncology –Nutrition working group) fellowships programs, under which the specialists from the world’s renowned institutes teach and mentor the nutritionists.
Their programs include placement of nutritionists who individually asses the nutritional status of each child and plan nutritional intervention; providing nutritional supplementation with OTC Products; provision of mid-day meals to OPD patients; ration program; Caregiver education program; knowledge building and assisting the hospitals with research.
Four -pronged approach
Cuddles Foundation uses a four pronged approach to support as many children and families as possible:
Nutritional guidance and counselling: The nutritionists and social workers work tirelessly to counsel and advise the children, parents and caregivers. They perform the critical function of ensuring that the children get the needful nutritional guidance care not only at the hospital but also at home.
Nutritional supplementation: They provide children with nutritional supplements, mid-day meals, eggs, fruits, ready-to-use therapeutic foods and other related products that help build their immunity and increase their chances of coping successfully with the strong chemotherapy sessions.
Ration program: They provide ration bundles including rice, wheat flour, moong dal, jaggery and other basic supplies to families fighting cancer to help feed nutritious meals to their child and stay for the treatment.
Research: They conduct groundbreaking studies on the impact of nutritional intervention in collaboration with Tata Memorial Hospital and AIIMS. These studies further help in creating awareness about the cause.
The impact
The impact numbers are so powerful that celebrities like Sonam Kapoor, Purab Kohli, Tara Sharma and business stalwarts like Neerja Birla are now passionate spokespeople of the cause. In the year 2015-16, Cuddles Foundation has been successful in reaching to about 18,000 kids. Out of the 18,000 children, approximately more than a quarter are unique and rest are follow up visit/ interactions. The numbers include kids reached out to with all or some of our interventions like supplementation, mid-day meals, counseling etc. Besides this, the treatment abandonment rates have gone down after Cuddles intervention. One of the biggest contributors to this positive trend is nutrition. Families typically leaves when they were unable to provide for their other children. With the food baskets, families get incentivized to stay and complete the treatment.
“Since Cuddles started providing my kids at the hospital with nutrition, I see a positive impact on the cure rates. I now know that we can continue our treatment even if the child is severely malnourished. I do feel supported”, says Dr Brijesh Arora, Tata Memorial Hospital.
One such story of a Cuddles baby is about Allimuddin Sk. A six year old boy with a case of Hodgkins lymphoma. His height was 104 cm and weighed 10kgs with MUAC 11.4 cms. He was found to be a SAM patient and was unable to sit and talk without crying. He was always drowsy and his food intake was so poor that he was not even strong enough to consume a liquid diet we prescribed. The doctors said that they would try an RT but not force it too much as he also had a nasal infection. The next day, the RT was inserted and three revisions were made. Protein and calories were gradually increased and regular counseling was given to his mother regarding hygiene and use of the RT by Cuddles nutritionists. His condition slowly improved and after two and a half weeks he could consume food orally. Allimuddin has gained weight and is doing great. He currently weighs 12.2 kgs. This is just one of the many stories Cuddles has to share.
Foundation achievements
Cuddles Foundation has not left a single stone unturned and has been successful in creating a significant impact on the society within a short span of three years. The foundation has received the National Award for Child Welfare, 2015 for the services rendered in the field of welfare of children. The award was presented by the President of India, Pranab Mukherjee to me on Children’s Day at the Rashtrapati Bhawan, New Delhi. It has also received the ‘Best New NGO Award’ in 2013-14 at the prestigious Conclave for its significant social impact. It has successfully deployed a team of 25 nutritionists stationed at 16 hospitals in India which is first of its kind in the country. It also provides guidelines to various NGO’S like Annam. Besides this, it has corporate tie-ups with Mondelez, Britannia, Aditya Birla group, Anand Rathi Wealth Management, Jewelex, JLL India and many more. It has also successfully planned and executed fund raisers annual events across Mumbai and Bengaluru. It has triumphantly built a dedicated donor group of more than 500 individual donors, providing consistent funding.
Cuddles Foundation believes that love, care, cuddles and the right nutrition can transform lives and bring back lost smiles.
(The author is the founder of Cuddles Foundation and an alumnus of Indian School Of Busin