Taking her "joyful" journey with cancer a step forward, cancer survivor and author Neelam Kumar has began a crowdfunding campaign to bring out a graphic novel on the deadly disease.
Kumar, who wanted to change the grim attitude towards cancer with her previously published book titled, 'To Cancer, With Love: My Journey of Joy,' said a graphic novel on the subject would make for "an easier, breezier and quicker read in these times of short attention span."
"I was struck by cancer not once but twice, so I decided to use that opportunity to change Indians' view on cancer as being a grim topic. The graphic novel will be an illustrated adaptation of the book," the author said.
Kumar was diagnosed with cancer in one breast first at the age of 35 and was diagnosed with the same disease in the second breast at the age of 57 in the year 2013.
The graphic novel, the author said, is set to begin on an autobiographical note and intends to inspire people to fight cancer with courage, while making them aware of how to prevent and handle the disease.
"I feel so strongly about this cause because every 50 seconds one Indian dies of cancer and we are sitting on the verge of a cancer epidemic. In the next few years the death rates are going to double," Kumar said
According to projections by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), in 2016 the total number of new cancer cases is expected to be around 14.5 lakh and the figure is likely to touch nearly 17.3 lakh new cases in 2020.
Over 7.36 lakh people are expected to succumb to the disease in 2016 while the figure is estimated to go up to 8.8 lakh by 2020.
Among women, breast cancer topped the fatality list while among men it was mouth cancer, according to the study.
"It is better that we start talking about the issue and in
such a way that people understand that breast cancer and cervical cancer, if detected early can save a life.
"Also, today's lifestyle is such that youngsters lead deadline driven lives with alcohol, smoking and sleep deprivation. It is time that we Indians took stock and saw what we can do to prevent this epidemic," Kumar said.
Data also revealed that only 12.5 per cent of patients get treated in early stages of the disease.
Describing the crowdfunding experience as "terrible," Kumar said, "In India, crowdfunding is something that people don't understand. When I put it up for crowdfunding, people started thinking that I am begging for money for myself."
The graphic novel, which will be designed by a Canadian animation company, eventually found sponsors in the Tata Trust Foundation and Bollywood actor Amitabh Bacchhan who contributed Rs 10 lakhs and Rs 3 lakhs respectively towards the cause.
"Cancer Care is a key focus area that requires the Tata Trusts to adopt a multi-dimensional approach. Supporting the release of this book in a unique format, is one such way in which we believe that the populace can be better prepared to face adversities with a smile," a spokesperson of the Trust said.
Kumar expressed her interest in getting it translated into several regional languages in order to expand the reach of the book.
"For my crowd funding campaign I have already reached the goal of 13 lakhs but there are still 20 days left and if more money comes in, I will use it for translating the book into other languages, so that it reaches the right target audience," she said.
Initial work for the book, she said, had begun with the digital format likely to come out in the next 3 months, which would be followed by publication.
