``A trained volunteer is available on the telephone helpline for patients or anyone wanting to talk confidentially about anxieties regarding the diagnosis of cancer in someone close to him/her,'' says Harmala Gupta, president of CanSupport.

The volunteers who man the helpline are screened and then trained to offer appropriate emotional support, which includes special listening skills. There is also a directory of information to which they may refer, but they do not give any medical advice, says Gupta. Callers are either given referrals to experts or helped to formulate questions so they can get the information they seek from their doctors.

Besides, a team consisting of a doctor, two nurses and two counsellors are always ready to visit people ill at home with advanced cancer. The team not only offers medical and nursing care, but also emotional support, adds Gupta. CanSupport has two such teams. The team can travel within a 20-km radius of AIIMS. This service is free of cost.

The service is important because home is where most people wish to be when faced with a terminal illness. Most relatives want to care for their loved ones at home, but this is not always possible without some professional help.CanSupport's home care programme offers medical expertise and nursing care to relieve pain as far as possible and bring relief from the other distressing symptoms that sometimes accompany advanced cancer. Very often emotional support and just being listened to is what people need most. The CanSupport Home Care Team works in collaboration with the Institute Rotary Cancer Hospital (IRCH) at AIIMS.

Patients covered under the CanSupport home care programme are those who are no longer receiving cancer treatment, but only undergoing symptomatic treatment. Most of the patients from the Institute Rotary Cancer Hospital, who form the majority of the patients under Can Support's care, receive some of these drugs free.

Besides, there is a Ved Mehta Memorial Fund available for the treatment and rehabilitation of children suffering from cancer. Ved Mehta was honorary secretary of the Delhi branch of the Indian Cancer Society for many years. So far, 12 cancer-afflicted children have been helped. They are primarily children with good prognosis, whose parents cannot afford their treatment. The majority of these children are being treated at AIIMS.

CanSupport itself is run with the help of voluntary donations from trusts and individuals. The start-up money for the home care programme was provided by the Tudor Trust, in the UK. The Sir Dorabji Tata Trust will be covering the salary bill of CanSupport for the coming two years, Gupta adds.

CanSupport was founded three years ago when it was perceived that there were several misconceptions about cancer. Many people still believed cancer was infectious, which caused grave distress within families; others consulted a doctor only when the cancer had reached an advanced, incurable stage.

For further information, contact: CanSupport Home Care Team, Tel: (011) 649 7154; Monday-Friday 10 am-1 pm