The Special Interest Group for Paediatric Psycho-Oncology (SIGPPO) was established to create a common national platform for professionals working in pediatric psycho-oncology to come together, exchange knowledge, discuss challenges, and build capacity in psychosocial care for children with cancer. SIGPPO was inaugurated on 15th February 2024 and has grown into a multidisciplinary community of 190 members from across India, including pediatric hematologist-oncologists (PHOs), psychologists, psycho-oncologists, social workers, and trainees.

Key outcomes and activities include

• Significant increase in the national visibility of pediatric psycho-oncology, and international representation within the Paediatric Psycho-Oncology Network.
• 12 monthly academic sessions with an average attendance of 25 (range: 9–29), in formats including expert lectures, case discussions, research spotlights, and knowledge-sharing sessions.
• Workshops at major conferences: the Asia Pacific Psycho-Oncology Network Conference (APPON, Chennai); the National Conference on Psychotherapeutic Assessments and Interventions in Psycho-Oncology (NCPO, AIIMS Delhi); and the 27th Annual Pediatric Hematology Oncology Conference (PHOCON, Jammu).
• SIGPPO India Learning Series 1, a four-session series run in collaboration between SIGPPO, ICCI, and PHO-IAP and expected to conclude by the end of September 2026. The first batch was capped at around 25 participants and was oversubscribed. Further modules are planned every 3–6 months and module-specific learning resources are being compiled into e-books and handouts for future use.

The Psychosocial Support Task Force of ICCI initiated the development of psychosocial care guidelines with a two-day national consultation held on 3rd–4th September 2024 at Radisson Blu, New Delhi. The meeting brought together more than 50 experts, including psychologists, social workers, pediatric oncologists, and representatives from key psychosocial organizations. Extensive discussions and breakout sessions led to a consensus to develop standardized psychosocial guidelines.

Building on this foundation, the ICCI organized the Psychosocial Guidelines Group Workshop on 3rd August 2025 at Narayana Health, Bangalore, during NAPCON (1st–3rd August 2025). The session emphasized peer review, feedback integration, and collaborative development to ensure national relevance. This work was also presented at SIOP 2025.

The guidelines are currently in the final proofreading stage. Two versions are planned, a detailed version and an abridged version, and the Task Force aims to release them at PHOCON 2026.

The Psychosocial Assessment Tool (PAT) is being adapted for the Indian context. Translation and back-translation have been completed and shared with the PAT team for review

The Task Force identified and listed training programs available nationally and internationally in pediatric psycho-oncology for psycho-oncologists and social workers, along with opportunities for caregivers, and added them to the ICCI website. The psycho-oncology training pages have the highest user count on the ICCI website.

The project also highlighted the absence of specialized psycho-oncology fellowship training in the country. As a direct outcome of this work, Narayana Health, Bengaluru launched a dedicated Psycho-Oncology Fellowship Program.

There is currently no landscaping of the psychosocial care available for children with cancer in India, and the Task Force has initiated two national needs assessments to address this.

For psychological services, a survey to assess the availability of psychology services has been developed and is ready for circulation, and a preliminary list of hospitals providing psychological services to children with cancer has been prepared.

For social workers, the Task Force is clarifying the scope of the proposed survey. It will primarily target individual social workers working at the ground level, including those employed by hospitals and NGOs, to understand their current roles and responsibilities, existing skills and capabilities, challenges faced, training needs, and areas requiring standardization. The findings are expected to inform the development of training modules and of standards and SOPs for social workers.

The Task Force has created a resource on social and financial support available for children with cancer in India. The collated information is available on the ICCI website (www.indiachildcancer.org) under Access Support, organized state-wise with government schemes and NGOs.

The information was compiled through web searches, a study of documents available through partners such as CanKids, Cancer Assist, and Konark Foundation, and work with pediatric oncologists and the social workers in their teams to collect information for several states. CanKids contributed information for all the states where they have a presence. The resource has been disseminated at various conferences and meetings.

Next Steps

• Finalize the national psychosocial guidelines and prepare the detailed and abridged versions for release at PHOCON 2026.
• Circulate the psychology services survey and begin data collection, and define the scope and methodology of the social worker needs assessment.
• Develop standards and SOPs for social workers.
• Review and update the training opportunities for psycho-oncologists and social workers listed on the ICCI website, along with the Access Support resource.
• Plan further SIGPPO India Learning Series modules, with a strategy for state-wise and hospital-wise representation in future training batches.
• Explore a government advocacy brief based on the needs assessments and psychosocial guidelines, and review existing government programmes and frameworks on mental health, workforce, training, and qualifications to identify opportunities for integrating pediatric psycho-oncology.