Poonam Bagai Wiki, Age, Family, Biography & More

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Poonam Bagai is the founder chairman of an NGO, Cankids Kidscan which works across the continuum of childhood cancer healthcare in India. She is an Economics Honors from St Stephens College and a Class I Government of India Officer, gave up her career, after she had cancer and related depression in 2000-2001, and has dedicated her life to the War against Cancer, as a Cancer Survivor, patient advocate and philanthropist.

She is also the Vice Chairman of Pallium India, a national trust committed to palliative care and has represented India as a Survivor Advocate and Global Cancer Ambassador at several forums and Conferences and WHO and UN High-level meetings. In 2015 the Indian Academy of Pediatrics awarded her for yeoman services to child health in India.

Contents

Wiki/Biography

Poonam was born on Tuesday, 20 March 1962 (age 61 years; as of 2023) in Bhopal, India. She lives in Gurgaon. She was born in the city of Bhopal and did her schooling at the Convent of Jesus and Mary, New Delhi. She graduated with a BA Hons in Economics from St. Stephens College, Delhi University in 1983 and was a University Rank Holder. She was a scholarship holder at the Delhi School of Economics where she enrolled to do her Master’s in Economics.

Physical Appearance

Height (approx.): 5’ 5”

Weight (approx.): 80 kg

Hair Colour: Black

Eye Colour: Black

Family

Parents & Siblings

Her father is a retired civil servant, and her mother was a homemaker. Her elder brother is Piyush Gupta, DBS Bank, Global Heal based in Singapore, and her younger sister works at Master Card based in London.

Spouse & Children

A single mother who lives in the Gurugram, National Capital Region (NCR) of Delhi and has two sons Angad and Akram.

Career

Formerly a Class I Government of India officer of the Indian Railways Accounts Service, batch of 1984. Civil Services. She has also worked in PSU-CONCOR as a transport consultant with the United Nations – ESCAP for 3 years from 1995, on ex-India leave.

Membership

She is also the Vice Chairman of Pallium India, a charitable trust dedicated to providing equal palliative care in India for terminally ill people.

She has served on the board of Childhood Cancer International.

A member of 2 Ethics committees.

In 2000, Bagai was diagnosed with colon cancer at the age of 38 years. At that time both her sons were 7 and 3. She received a life-changing diagnosis, colon cancer, that upturned life as she knew it. At the time, she was settled in Warsaw, Poland, with her husband and children, enjoying what she calls a typical expat life, and her career as a civil servant.

Being away from the comforts of her homeland and tussling with language barriers in a foreign country only made things harder. It was as though everything changed in one moment.

Three surgeries, nine rounds of chemotherapy, and a traumatising colostomy — the year of her diagnosis was a whirlwind. But worse than that, she says, was the feeling of depression and hopelessness that took over.

All through her treatment and recovery, Poonam found herself shifting between two states of mind. One was the undying faith that she would make it through. The other was the nagging feeling that she would die and leave her children motherless. Alongside was the sinking realisation that privilege and a good education were on her side, she had done nothing to show for it yet. At that moment she pledged to God that if she survives, she will go back to India and will look after every kid with cancer in India.

It was a life-defining life-changing time that resulted in a pledge to help every child with cancer in India, a pledge she has worked to fulfil over the last two decades.

That was a monumental task for anyone. But Poonam hadn’t lived in India for years. She’d been on a five-year leave as a civil service officer from the Indian government, living all over the world — London, Bangkok, Moscow, Warsaw. She’d worked as a bureaucrat and a United Nations consultant.

In truth, she had everything but no idea what people in India whose children had cancer might need.

In the year 2002, Poonam came back to India with a motto to work something for cancer and started by going to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, in New Delhi, which has comprehensive facilities for teaching, research and medical care. That’s where she met Sonal Sharma, a woman whose daughter was diagnosed with cancer at the same time. Sharma wanted to hold the hands of every parent whose child has cancer so they wouldn’t face the diagnosis alone. The pair forged a friendship, volunteered together at the Indian Cancer Society and then co-founded CanKids KidsCan in 2004 under the umbrella of the Indian Cancer Society, Delhi Branch, which then spun off in June 2012 and registered as an independent National Society whose mission is to enable the best treatment, care and support of children in India.

The pair started in a single hospital, sitting on muddas, or small stools, talking to families. Their initial focus was to ensure that children who’d already reached a hospital got the care they needed. When a pediatric oncologist refused to start treatment until a family had all the funds, CanKids found the money. In hospitals with no space, Bagai brought chatais, thin woven mats made of river grass, opened her box full of files and set up shop on the floor. She called them chatai clinics.

She believes deeply in empowerment and building capacities. She has built up a Parent Support Group model of Patient Navigation which ensures reintegration, livelihoods and empowerment of parents of children with cancer as well as a Childhood Cancer Survivors model of Patient Advocacy which builds Awareness and Advocates for Change at all Stakeholder levels.

She has developed several low-cost models of care, focusing on outreach, parent and community participation, including the national outreach project, 3 different types of Cankids care centres and Chattai Clinics.

Since 2004, her organisation CanKids KidsCan has provided direct medical and emotional care to 75,000 children living with cancer. She has developed several low-cost models of Access to holistic care, focusing on outreach, parent and community participation. She believes deeply in empowerment and has built a Parent Support Group model of Patient Navigation and a Childhood Cancer Survivors model of Patient Advocacy which builds Awareness and Advocates for Change at all Stakeholder levels. She is also the Vice Chairman of Pallium India for quality palliative care and pain relief in India.

Today, CanKids partners with hospitals, medical professionals and state governments to enable access and best standards of treatment, care and support through 141 CanKids hospital support units across 58 cities and 22 states of India with signed MOUs with 8 State governments as knowledge and technical partners for childhood cancer. CanKids has been recognised as a key leading non-profit organisation working in India to address the needs of children with cancer (0-19 years) and their families. It is the only organisation in India working at all levels – grassroots, district, state, and national levels and supporting the health authorities and hospitals to improve the quality/standard of treatment, care, and other holistic support services.

Poonam Bagai at an event

Poonam started her journey with the aim to go to those people who thought cancer was incurable and make them understand that a beautiful life is waiting for their children and after the cancer treatment, cancer survivors have a right to live a normal life.

Now 61, Poonam is a survivor, patient advocate, and philanthropist. A committed personality to mentor young cancer survivors and young women in the Workplace. Her philosophy remains that she remains happy no matter what life throws her way.

Awards, Honors, Achievements

PeakLife Women Inspire Award Driven by Audi India and Powered by Austria Tourism (16 December 2022)

Nutrition Leadership Excellence Award, Issued by NIFTEM (2022) (Celebrating Women Leaders on International Women’s Day)

Select Citywalk Wonder Woman Award Issued by Select Citywalk (March 2018)

Vedica Women Alliance v-WA 50 Issued by The Vedica Women’s Alliance, a Vedica initiative (2021) (Women Leaders in Social Impact)

CSR Health Impact Award (2021) Issued by IHW Council

Karmaveer Puraskaar Issued by KarmaVeer, iCONGO (2015-16) (Global Award for Social Justice and Citizen Action)

Nargis Dutt Cancer Conqueror Award Issued by Nargis Dutt Cancer Foundation (January 2015)

Indian Academy of Pediatrics Award Issued by Indian Academy of Pediatrics Award (January 2015) (for yeoman services to Child Health in India)

Certificate of Appreciation Issued by Helping Hand 4 Cancer Care, 2015

Dr Sadhna Women Empowerment Awards Issued by Dr Sadhna International Women Rights Protection Trust · Jan 2012.

AmeriCares India Spirit of Humanity Award, 2011 Issued by Americares India Foundation (Recognition of Outstanding Contribution of Healthcare for Society in the Oncology Services Category)

Dr Batra’s Positive Health Award Issued by Dr Batra’s · Jan 2010 (For demonstrating that the strength of the human spirit can conquer the frailties of the human body. The Positive Health Awards honour this spirit and re-affirm commitment to health, strength and positivity)

Indira Gandhi Priyadarshini Award 2008 Issued by All India National Integration Conference – Jan 2008 (for outstanding services, achievements and contributions in the field of social services on the occasion of the 91st Birth Anniversary of Late Smt. Indira Gandhi on 19th November 2008)

V-Care Foundation Victor Awards 2007 Issued by V Care Foundation (To Cancer Survivors who have shown exemplary courage in fighting the disease and whose lives can be emulated and serve as an inspiration to others)