BANCAT: One man’s mission to change cancer care in Bangladesh
After Najmus Ahmed Albab recovered from cancer, he left his business and dedicated all his time and effort to make the struggle of cancer patients a bit easier
In 2011, a sudden dengue attack got Najmus Ahmed Albab worried. He was after all a healthy 45-year-old with a thriving garment business.
At his father-in-law's insistence, he went to the hospital for a dengue test and subsequent treatment. There, the doctors confirmed that he actually had acute myeloid leukaemia, a type of blood cancer.
"It was a shock for me; everything changed overnight. You see, your whole life changes from the moment cancer is diagnosed and treatment begins. Nothing remains the same," said Albab during a recent interview with The Business Standard.
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He was quickly flown to Singapore where he stayed for months, enduring one strong chemotherapy after the other. His parents, teenage son and his doctor were his constant support.
The chemotherapy cycles would leave him drained, and exhausted. "I would lie on the bed, and my mother would come to see me. I would look at her, and she would look at me, both unable to say anything."
He came to Bangladesh for a few days in between treatment and his father told him about a newspaper advertisement seeking help for a girl who also had blood cancer.
The coincidence felt surreal to Albab. "She even needed the same medicine that I would after five months."
Before leaving for Singapore again, he arranged to take care of her treatment for one whole year. And the girl survived. She even went on to get married and have children.
When Albab returned to Bangladesh after full recovery, his entire battle with cancer got him thinking. He felt he was just an ordinary person, but he was lucky to receive a lot of love and support from his family and friends.
In Dhaka, he went to visit different public hospitals to understand the situation of cancer patients. Scarcity of beds and an overwhelming number of patients mean even hospital floors are occupied by patients.
Sometimes it was too much to bear for him. "Once, seeing the condition a patient was in, I held on to the wall and just sat on the floor. I always say that if you really want to know about life, take a stroll down the balcony or corridor of a hospital."
He realised he wanted to do something for these patients. Instead of just giving them money for treatment, he wanted to provide them with care, something that is lacking severely in their case.
"I knew what helped me in my cancer journey, and it was care. If I remember well, to heal a cancer patient, 30% comes from treatment and the rest from care."
Every year, nearly two lakh cancer patients are diagnosed in Bangladesh and more than one lakh die. There is a huge gap in care when it comes to patients in rural areas. Moreover, most treatment is centred around Dhaka, which means they have to stay here for a long time and struggle with food and accommodation.
BANCAT was established in 2019 with its mission statement 'care, hope and strength'. It has helped hundreds of patients through numerous initiatives such as Alok Nibash - a care home for cancer patients in Bashundhara R/A - and regular educational programmes, awareness campaigns, and seminars on cancer.
Underprivileged patients from rural areas and those undergoing treatments across hospitals in the capital can stay at Alok Nibash for free.
Although they do not receive any treatment, they are provided with food and round the clock nursing care. There are ambulances for them to travel to the hospitals as well.
BANCAT Durbar, the youth segment of the organisation, has more than 2,000 volunteers, all of whom are young students who work on raising cancer awareness in the country. It has held 15 events so far, reaching 15,000 people.
Other programmes such as Cricket for Cancer, Football for Cancer, Wellness Carnival etc have been immensely successful in increasing awareness and raising funds.
12 awareness sessions and medical camps on breast and ovarian cancer, reaching 4,000 working women, have been carried out under its initiative titled 'Maa bachao, desh bachao.'
In the last five years, BANCAT has donated warm clothes to 20,000 families during winter. During the Covid-19 pandemic, it donated 3,000 food staples to families of cancer patients.
BANCAT also runs a support group for cancer patients and caregivers called the 'Cancer Warrior Club'.
From a Facebook page to a foundation
In 2011, Albab opened a Facebook page called 'I beat cancer'. Through the page, people would donate for helping cancer patients and he would also share stories of his own survival and of others.
In 2013, he realised he no longer wanted to lead the life he had and sold his garment business. "I was not able to do it anymore. I wanted to have a peaceful life dedicated to social development."
Every day, more people were providing donations and more people were also asking for help for cancer treatment on his page. In 2015, he opened the Bangladesh Cancer Aid Foundation, or BANCAF, with 29 people who were helping him with funds.
The numbers kept increasing and the organisation kept growing. "When we started, we were helping maybe one patient every six months. Soon, we began to help say six patients every month."
He launched Bangladesh Cancer Aid Trust or BANCAT in 2019 as its Author and Executive Director because he no longer wanted to just raise funds.
"People were giving me money and I was giving it to others and taking all the credit. I did not know how the patient was feeling or doing. I wanted to do something more important."
According to Albab, he has a few philosophies in place for BANCAT, which is "it should be run by professionals, it should be eternal, and it should end the day the world ends."
The organisation's founding president was the late Rokia Afzal Rahman and its current president is Anis A Khan. The trustees include many other esteemed personalities of the country.
Alok Nibash was established in 2022 and it has served 460 patients till date. A second care home named 'Mosabbir Memorial Alok Nibash' (Alok Nibash-2) was established in 2023 in the same area as the first one, Bashundhara R/A.
A hopeful future for rural patients
At Alok Nibash-2, the stark white staircase walls are decorated with framed paintings made by its inhabitants. Some of these young artists are no longer alive, but they will forever be remembered through their strength and resilience, and their artwork.
Abdul Ahab is getting treated for colon cancer at Dhaka Medical College. He has been at Alok Nibash-2 for 40 days now.
He said, "I am relieved to get a bed here, and relieved to have a place to stay in this sweltering heat." In fact, when we saw him, he was lying on the cold, tiled floor to get some comfort.
Eleven-month-old Tazrian from Netrokona was diagnosed with cancer when she was six months old. She was staying at Alok Nibash-2 as well, with her mother.
"We came all the way from Satkhira. Our baby has been sick for a long time and we are glad we can stay in a clean place," the mother told us.
A young boy wearing a cap was standing near us while we were talking to other patients. He was shy when we asked his name, but said he likes it here. "I do not feel lonely, I have friends here." His friends were all young patients like him.
All of them, along with other patients, dine together at the dining space, which can accommodate around 25 people. Here, they laugh and talk while eating, like a big, happy family.
The ones who survive are indeed warriors. Manik was a teenager who lost one of his legs to cancer. But with BANCAT's help, he got a femur transplant and now wants Albab to visit him at his village so he can watch him play football.
"I do not want to take pride in my work, it is all about soul searching for me. [After my cancer diagnosis], I kept asking myself, was I brought on this earth to just negotiate with buyers and make money?" said Albab, who has made it his life's mission to help cancer patients.
BANCAT is currently working on a new project called 'Alokon' which will focus on cancer patients' mental health.
In future, the organisation wants to develop a model for rural cancer patients where there will be no disparity in care.
"In 10 to 15 years, we want to establish a centre with a capacity for 250 beds on our land in Savar. It will be equipped with doctors who will constantly supervise everything. I also want to establish palliative care for pain management."
