Awareness activities were planned for the year, contacts were made with educational institutions, corporates, community groups and housing societies.

An innovative effort was aimed at Government Kannada High Schools, where an audio-visual talk discussed the ill effects of tobacco, how tobacco is responsible for 30% of the cancers and challenges of escaping the clutches of addiction. At the end of the session a set of cartoons were handed out to students, where they had to write in the blank speech bubbles. These were very popular with the students. Finally, all the students took a pledge, reiterating that they would stay away from tobacco products.

In a first, Breast self – examination leaflets were inserted in Bra packaging, to motivate women to do self-checking.

Street plays by Nursing students, bike rallies by IT professionals, walkathons conducted by enthusiastic college students carrying messages, are regular annual features. Schools invite ICS with great enthusiasm for conducting Relay for Life programme.  ICS participates regularly in 5K and 10K Runs organised in Bangalore. At a recent event, one of our ICS employees, donned the costume of Ravana, and successfully portrayed the different modifiable habits as a 10-headed monster. He drew crowds of curious on-lookers.

Awareness through the mobile: Videos have been created to take the message forward in simple, easy language. To name just a few, “Cancer is not a curse” dance mudras used to bust some of the common myths; “The 3 finger salute” demonstrates the way to conduct Breast Self Examination; “Oral self examination” shown through an animation clip; “Kani-amma” a powerful video on ill effects of tobacco consumption, both the smoking variety as well as the chewing variety. (QR CODES FOR EACH VIDEO SENT SEPARATELY).

Screening down the years: Screening plays as important a part in primary prevention, as creating awareness. Once both male and female doctors were recruited in the team, ICS Karnataka has been able to make forays into the heartland of Karnataka. Wherever necessary, doctors from local Medical Colleges are requested to assist in the screening of Oral, Breast and Cervical cancer. Regional offices also have built a support staff of MSWs, Nurses and Researchers. In 2024-25 small units have started operating in neighbouring states of Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. In 2024-25 over 23,000 beneficiaries were screened, these include village community, urban slums, Municipal sanitary health workers, garment factory workers, house-keeping staff – typically those who normally never give importance to screening as a part of preventive care.

Equally important, the beneficiaries who are screened positive are followed up for further confirmation, and in instances where it is a case of cancer, the treatment is taken care of, thus closing the loop.

From 2023 onwards, screening camps have been periodically held for women living with HIV in Koppal and Gadag Districts, a segment which often gets neglected in health-care programmes. A total of 1500 women have been screened and the follow-up was meticulously done, the attempt being to integrate this process into the government ART clinics.

Financial support to under-privileged patients has increased over the years, with a special fund being set aside for Paediatric patients, called ‘Makkala’ Treatment Fund. Bridge fund is given to patients who are diagnosed, but are hesitating to start treatment due to financial constraints. 23 Hospitals all over Karnataka are enlisted for these funds, which are sent to the Hospitals for eligible patients and a follow-up protocol checks about the improvement of these patients. 640 patients received either Bridge Fund or Treatment fund or Paediatric Fund in 2024-25.

There are special programmes to support those who are in the recovery phase. Nutrition supplement kits, containing Protein powder, as prescribed by doctors, are supplied to needy patients in hospitals. Feedback from caregivers tell us that these have helped speed up the recovery, especially when the patient’s food intake was very low. In 2024-25, a total of 5150 patients were supplied the protein powder, which also included paediatric protein powder for children.

Post treatment support: Besides bra-prosthesis, it was noticed that women who lost their hair due to chemo-therapy were reclusive and felt a loss of self-esteem.  ICS Bangalore decided to offer free wigs, made of natural hair for such patients. Bangalore office is a collection centre for hair donations, which are converted into beautiful wigs by a professional wig-maker in Bangalore. Persons of all ages gladly donate hair, including school girls and even a couple of male donors.150 wigs were distributed in 2024-25 to women, not just in Bangalore but also in Delhi and Mumbai.

Emotional support is the last component of patient support which ICS Karnataka is continuing with the active participation of 15 Volunteers. These dedicated Volunteers visit 9 Hospitals in Bangalore, on a regular basis and provide emotional succour to both patient and caregiver. The ‘Healthcare Heroes Award 2025 in the category Mental Health for cancer patients’, was presented to the Volunteers by Dainik Jagran Delhi, in recognition of their committed work.

A Managing Committee, headed by the Chairman, assisted by the Honorary Secretary and Honorary Treasurer, and other members, mentor the team; two Members being medical professionals, actively guide the staff on a regular basis.