Page 89 - Tata-Trusts-Annual-Report-2022-23

Priya’s healthcare battle got
a ray of hope
EMPOWERMENT

Individual Grant’s Programme made
Priya’s healthcare journey their own.

Healthcare in India is expensive, especially when it comes to Priya’s sister and her husband to manage with Priya’s
lower-income groups. Many times, the cost of treatment medical expenses.
poses an enormous financial burden on them, pushing them
to the brink of poverty. Even insurance providers have caps Priya’s brother-in-law was a rickshaw driver and he was
on the extent to which financial assistance is provided. Tata unable to single-handedly cover all the expenses himself.
Trusts, through its Individual Grants Programme extends Priya was already debt-ridden because of the surgery and the
financial support in critical and deserving medical cases. chemotherapy was going to cost more than `550,000, apart
from daily expenses for general care. The financial stress was
One such medical case was that of Priya Sonawane (name adding to the already existing emotional distress.
changed), a resident of Jogeshwari, Mumbai. She was the
sole breadwinner in her family consisting of her retired father, Priya reached out to the Social Work Department of the Holy
her housewife mother and her out-of-work brother. Priya was Spirit Hospital. They were understanding of the situation and
living with her sister and brother-in-law when she underwent in turn, referred her case to Tata Trusts.
a biopsy. The test diagnosed her with breast cancer. She took
a second opinion from Holy Spirit Hospital which confirmed After an evaluation of Priya’s medical case and a
that she had Left Breast Invasive Duct Carcinoma III. Priya socio-economic assessment of her family, the Trusts
had to leave her employment because the illness left her extended her the necessary financial grant.
weak and she was unable to continue working. She started
her treatment which involved surgery. After the surgery, she Thanks to the financial support extended, Priya’s
was advised chemotherapy sessions. chemotherapy treatment did not have to stall midway and it
continued uninterrupted. Today, Priya is stable and hopeful
Both the surgery and chemotherapy sessions are expensive that she will be able to fight this disease and return to a
procedures. It was getting increasingly di cult for normal, healthy life.

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