Healthy mind in a healthy body.

Building a strong culture of healthcare is the baseline to improve the quality of life of all its citizens, which is a key human index indicator that marks the progress of a country. Effective healthcare is indeed one of the building blocks of a purposeful nation.

Today, the healthcare sector is going through tremendous progress, leveraging the growth in technology. However, we can call healthcare healthy only when it reaches the people in need, upholding the values of humanity, not just for profit.

Improved public health is a confidence booster to the healthcare sector and it starts with the awareness campaign to increase the health literacy of the general public. Discovering new drugs and treatment regimens for diseases that were previously thought to have no cure has given us a new hope. At the outset, it's reassuring that this will make treatment methods more accessible and effortless as the healthcare sector moves forward with confidence through research activities, innovative medical systems, and new treatment methods. To make these new discoveries beneficial to people in need, efforts are to be made to make healthcare accessible and affordable through health insurance protection for all.

Health is a state of physical, mental, social, and spiritual well-being of an individual, which is the foundation of any healthy society. A healthy life is the right of a citizen. This right is equal for the newborn and the elderly. Therefore, health care is not just an idea, but a lofty goal to be realised by the country. Catholic Health Association of India is also on the path to achieve this goal of making advanced healthcare accessible and affordable to all. It is gratifying that the phenomenal growth of the health sector and rising health quality indices are bringing this goal closer.

A Collective for Healthcare to All

Catholic Health Association of India (CHAI) spearheads this movement with a network of 3,572 healthcare and social service institutions across India. CHAI’s Kerala Chapter is the flagship of the Catholic Health Association of India, whose network is divided into 11 regional zones spread across the country. The Kerala Chapter has five zones under its umbrella.

The operational zones are Thiruvananthapuram, Ernakulam, Kottayam, Thrissur, and Malabar. In addition to the medical colleges and various hospitals, the Kerala Chapter has a network of clinics, nursing colleges, and social service societies in the network. With this network of healthcare services, CHAI plays a major role in Indian healthcare, serving over 21 million (about 1.5% of India’s population) patients annually across the country. Caritas Hospital in collaboration with the Catholic Health Association of India and CHAI’s Kerala Chapter is committed to leading a reformed emergency healthcare service sector by upholding ethics and values, and nurturing the critical human touch in healthcare.

Through our 222 hospitals, clinics, and diocesan social service societies, we provide quality health services to those who do not have easy access to healthcare. CHAI’s Kerala Chapter works as an extended network in collaboration with other charitable institutions. We have demonstrated success as the associate hospitals of CHAI’s Kerala Chapter had collectively done commendable work during a number of health crises we faced in the last couple of years, be it the pandemic, or the huge flood that shook Kerala, or the recent landslide disaster in Wayanad.

The Kerala Story in Healthcare

Going back in the history of Kerala, decades-long contributions of Missionary hospitals are touted as one of the game-changers in improving the health indices of the state early on. The Missionary hospitals made healthcare reach rural Kerala with a focus on public health.

Stepping up on the foundations of missionary hospitals, in the post-Independence era, the Christian hospitals at large and Catholic hospitals in particular have been the torch bearers in keeping both urban and rural Kerala healthy. When the government initiated specialty cancer care in a limited number of government hospitals, hand in hand, we had the Amala Cancer Hospital in Thrissur, the Catholic caregivers as the pathfinders with a vision to make cancer care a priority for all.

If you take the landscape of central Kerala, the journey started decades ago with Amala Hospital in Thrissur and got further strengthened with Caritas Hospital in Kottayam, Lisie Hospital in Ernakulam, Pushpagiri Hospital in Thiruvalla, St. Thomas Hospital in Chethipuza, Rajagiri Hospital in Aluva and others joining the movement to make Cancer care accessible and affordable to all. With the unwavering commitment of six decades of offering compassionate healthcare to patients, we now see an enhanced role of Catholic hospitals in the healthcare sector to lead a powerful movement to make health a priority and a right for every citizen of India.

A Case study of Catholic Care and Compassion

Caritas holds the beacon of care and compassion under the Catholic Archdiocese of Kottayam and as the first multi-speciality hospital in Central Travancore, we have built on an exemplary model of volunteerism for the last six decades, combining commitment and quality in healthcare. All advanced treatment facilities available anywhere in India today are available at Caritas also. In the early days, patients came to Caritas from nearby districts only, but now people from different parts of the country and abroad are also seeking healthcare services in Caritas.

Our Cancer Institute, which was set up by the visionary Father Abhivandya Kunnassery, has become one of the outstanding treatment centres in India in the last twenty years. A Surgical Oncology department started in January 2000 under the leadership of Mar Kuriakos Kunnasseri in the Archdiocese of Kottayam was converted into Caritas Cancer Institute in 2003. Towering visionaries like Father Simon Pazhukail and Father Jacob Kallamparampil were behind this. After two decades, Caritas Cancer Care Hospital stands as the pride of Central Kerala in the field of cancer treatment.

The Oncology department is dedicated to combating the serious risks of cancer by making the diagnosis accurate and taking a holistic approach to the mental and physical well-being of the patient. Pain and palliative care in Caritas Cancer Institute provides comfort to cancer patients in their last days of life, making Caritas a place of healing and hope for thousands of patients every year. Similarly, every cancer speciality hospital has a compelling story to tell, and a collective wisdom acquired through knowledge and experience to share. Imagine the synergies of scale and impact we could achieve through this network of hospitals across Kerala.

How Do We Make This Happen?

In the last twenty years, five lakh people have come to Caritas Cancer Institute for treatment. This includes about fifty thousand cancer surgeries, three hundred and seventy-five thousand radiations, and three hundred thousand chemotherapy treatments. Along with this, the medical financial assistance given to cancer patients in need has crossed the ₹5 crore mark.

Though it worries us that the number of cancer patients is increasing year on year, we also understand this as an indication of more and more people being aware of this malady and having access to cancer treatment facilities and services. It's also reassuring that, as per studies conducted, the percentage of recovery and the quality of life post-recovery have tremendously improved for cancer patients in the past decade.

We now know that, through adapting to global best practices, through awareness and early detection, and through accessing advanced treatment regimens, we shall overcome this malady.

Armed with this positive information, upholding the motto of ‘Health for All’, we now move forward with renewed commitment to create a collective society that offers cancer care affordable and accessible to all.