A hostel with 100 flats for cancer patients and their families was inaugurated on Tuesday morning. This facility is very close to Tata Memorial Hospital and is meant to ease accommodation scarcity for outstation patients and kin, many of whom unfortunately have to make the pavements their home. The footpaths and corners near the Parel hub have become shelters for suffering patients who lack alternatives.

This facility is an option. Reports state that there are more such hostels in the pipeline. A doctor made a point that societal support is important to ensure the sustainability of institutions and a holistic way to treat cancer. Let us all come together in any way we can to try and take on the emperor of all maladies. We may be unable to construct buildings, or even work directly with NGOs, but we applaud from the sidelines as these doctors and sponsors try to change the narrative. We can, as individuals, ensure we undergo periodic check-ups. We can raise awareness about the efficacy of early detection.