Inaugural meeting sees the launch of Bladder Cancer India

The initiative of the launch of Bladder Cancer India is a collaborative project where medical, surgical, and radiation oncologists experts along with patient organisations have come forward to work together to strengthen and make Bladder Cancer India a reality for patients in the country.

On May 27, Bladder Cancer India hosted an inaugural meeting, to discuss the need for support groups for bladder cancer patients and caregivers in India. Alex Filicevas, Executive Director of the World Bladder Cancer Patient Coalition joined the meeting with a video message of support and commitment to support the group on their journey.

A few key highlights of the launch event:

• Dr D. Banavali, Director (Academic), Tata Memorial Hospital launched the digital platforms for Bladder Cancer India, the first bladder cancer patient organisation in India.
• Dr Kumar Prabhas Head of the Department of Medical Oncology, Tata Memorial Hospital expressed his gratitude to stakeholders coming together in support of this new initiative. He highlighted that with the increasing burden of bladder cancer there is an urgent need to create and strengthen this kind of platform to spread bladder cancer awareness, education and provide peer support to bladder cancer patients.
• Dr Amit Joshi emphasised the need for educational materials in local dialect to empower bladder cancer patients and their caregivers, assuring support of medical experts to strengthen Bladder Cancer India.
• Dr Gagan Prakash, Professor and Head Uro Oncology surgery at TMH Mumbai moderated the distinguished panel discussion which highlighted challenges related to bladder cancer patients experiences.

Following from this inaugural Bladder Cancer India event, starting on June 22,  every month a virtual patient support group meeting will be convened to bring patients together under one platform.

We hope that Bladder Cancer India will soon be part of the World Bladder Cancer Patient Coalition, opening doors to an international bladder cancer patient advocacy support community and enriching the initiatives in both India and around the world.

World Bladder Cancer Patient Coalition, is committed to empowering and nurturing the establishment and growth of bladder cancer patient support and advocacy organisation, like Bladder Cancer India, around the world. We invite you to explore our Start-up guide for bladder cancer patient groups, which promotes the establishment of grassroots bladder cancer patient groups, and provides ready-to-use resources and best practice examples for getting started.

There is a crucial need to provide support and encourage bladder cancer patients, caregivers, families and advocates to join together to improve support, information and care for people affected by bladder cancer in their communities.

The WBCPC Start-up guide for bladder cancer patient groups is available in English, Spanish, French, Portuguese and Arabic and we will continue translations and adaptations of the guide to more regions and countries across the world.

If you have any questions, would like to learn more, join our coalition or start your own bladder cancer patient group, email us at info@worldbladdercancer.org