With this aim Karunashraya is hosting a jazz and fusion concert by Asia Elektrik on January 18 at the Ambedkar Bhavan on Millers Road to raise funds for their services.  It will be an evening of music with renowned musicians Louis Banks on Keyboards, Sivamani on percussion, and Niladri Kumar on the Sitar.

The Bangalore Hospice Trust (Karunashraya), is a charitable trust helping patients with advanced cancer for the last 12 years.  Their aim is to improve the quality of life of such patients, and give them the dignity and peace they deserve at this crucial and traumatic stage of their lives.

Said managing trustee Kishore Rao, “We believe that this is the most crucial stage in a patient’s life, when he or she has suddenly loses the security and comfort of a hospital, since no further treatment is possible.

The trauma of losing medical support, added to the fear of death cannot be easily described. The entire burden of care now rests with the families, who are more often than not, ill-equipped financially and emotionally to deal with the situation.  We have even come across cases where a house has been mortgaged or the family jewels have been pledged to pay for the treatment.”

Karunashraya has a 50-bed in-patient facility on the Airport-Whitefield Road, where patients are treated entirely free of cost, irrespective of caste, creed, religion, or economic background.

In addition to the above, they operate a Home Care Service, where two dedicated teams visit the homes of terminally ill patients, care for them, guide the families on patient care, and provide emotional support to them. If the team feels that the patient needs the care of the in-patient facility, the same is recommended. Apart from medical support, they also provide emotional support to the patient and their families, by way of counselling.

Till date Karunashraya has cared for over 7,500 patients, both as in-patients and at their own homes. 

More than 80 per cent of the patients are from the weaker economic sections.  All their services are completely free of charge.  The government of Karnataka has recognised their services and conferred the state’s highest honour - the Rajyotsava Award - for the outstanding services in the field of cancer care for the poor.

Said Mr Rao, “Our services are entirely free of charge, and the success of this venture depends entirely on the continued generosity of donors at any given point in time. Fund-raising is a constant effort - we plan periodic fund-raising events to augment our collection efforts.”

For more details on Karunashraya and the concert, call: 9740810281/ 9880846173.