AstraZeneca India grants 500 wishes of critically ill children

New Delhi: Taking its promise of care forward, AstraZeneca India, a leading science-led biopharmaceutical company joined hands with ‘Make-A-Wish’ Foundation India to fulfil the wishes of about 500 children suffering from critical ailments across the country.

Under this partnership, the organisation supported a series of 11 events organised either virtually or on-ground across Bangalore, Goa, Mumbai, Kolkata, Jaipur, Delhi, Pune, Hyderabad, Chennai, Ahmedabad and Baroda in an effort to reach out as many children between the age of 3 to 18 years as possible and leave them with joyous memories.

Commenting on this initiative, Dr. Anil Kukreja, V.P Medical Affairs & Regulatory, AstraZeneca India said, “We are delighted to bring back this initiative after a break due to the pandemic. It is nothing less than an honour to partner with Make-A-Wish and bring smiles on the faces of children dealing with life threatening diseases. This initiative is a small gesture to deliver a burst of laughter for a moment to children.”

Highlighting organisation’s focus on patient-centricity, Dr. Kukreja added, “Our partnership with Make-A-Wish is an extension of two of our marquee campaigns Ganga Godavari initiative and New Normal Same Cancer (NNSC) where we are working with multiple influencers to organise camps across the country to encourage preventive healthcare check-ups to aid early diagnosis of cancer. Our parallel focus through the two campaigns is to enable adherence and continuity of cancer treatment”.

One of the happy parents concurred and said, “Our heartfelt gratitude to Make-A-Wish India and AstraZeneca for showering their love and support to our child. Every child here is entitled to joy and it is overwhelming to see them happy as their wishes are being fulfilled. Even during the difficult period, we cherish such days when we see them smile”.

“Happy experiences help in improving both emotional and physical health to great extent. For over 25 years, Make-A-Wish is bringing hope and joy back into the lives of children with severe illnesses. A continuous association with AstraZeneca suggests that they concur with this thought process of spreading happiness in whatever way one can”, said Mr Deepak Bhatia, CEO Make-A-Wish Foundation India. “We are grateful to continue our work through such strategic partnerships to bring the power of wishing to children and their families when they need it most.” he added.

Applauding the gesture medical experts said, “It is overwhelming to witness the joy that children experience through such fun-filled engaging events especially when they are struggling to keep up with their health. Big congratulations to Make-A-Wish to continue the spree to support children with the help of like-minded organizations such as AstraZeneca that are aware of the importance of the continuity of such patient centric initiatives”.