PRASHANTI ADVOCACY
The first meeting of the Prashanti Advocacy group took place on the26th of April, 2010 at the Orchids Specialty Breast Care Centre,Training Hall.
The Advocacy Group is an independent think tank to look at issues in cancer care and control, prioritize, plan, and raise a critical mass to actively seek health reforms and prioritization of cancer in the health agenda.

Members of the Advocacy Group belong to different professional domains. Our group consists of survivors of cancer, members coming from the social sciences and humanities, science and technology community. These members will steer all advocacy activities of Prashanti from the grassroots level.

Dr. Koppiker gave a brief overview of Prashanti activities which include patient aid, patient support and public health education and a specialty breast clinic. He emphasized the need for patient advocacy specially with respect to initiating legal and financial aid.

A 20 minute presentation on what is advocacy, best and not so best examples and practices from India and the basics and principles of advocacy was made by Rama Sivaram. The purpose of this was to enable the members to identify issues, prioritize issues, debate and put into perspective what needs to be done, how it needs to be done and the associated pros and cons. The goals, processes and the action plans for Prashanti‘s cancer advocacy were discussed.

Some consensus highlights of the meeting were:
 Local focus: Look at cancer in Pune city and subsequently Pune district
 Setting up a comprehensive Pune- Prashanti cancer registry essential to provide evidence based inquiry into health care and systems.
 To study how much and how far the objectives National Cancer Control Programs (1975-76) have been met with and are being implemented in Pune city.
 Build partnership network with other NGOs and local bodies and institutions championing the cause
 Create a brand Prashanti Advocacy Movement from short term to long term goals

The members of our team include:
Mrs. Anagha Ghosh, social sciences
Mr. Subhash Katte, social sciences
Dr. Sharmila Bapat, science research
Dr. Ms Ameeta Ravi Kumar, science research
Dr. Srinivas Hotha, science research
Dr. Premnath, science and technology innovation and transfer
Dr. Rama Sivaram, social sciences
Ms.Laleh Busheri : Lawyer and Solicitor

Rama