Category: Health

Hero Cycles on Tuesday said it is setting aside Rs 100 crore as a contingency fund to address and mitigate the impact of coronavirus pandemic on partners and the community at large. As an organisation that stands for the principles of business with a humane

Hero Cycles on Tuesday said it is setting aside Rs 100 crore as a contingency fund to address and mitigate the impact of coronavirus pandemic on partners and the community at large.

“As an organisation that stands for the principles of business with a humane approach, we are allocating Rs 100 crore as a contingency fund to help the entire ecosystem around our organisation survive this crisis,” Pankaj M Munjal, chairman HMC, a Hero Motors Company said in a statement.

The company is also reaching out to different state governments to offer all possible help, he added.

Hero Cycles has also set up an emergency monitoring cell headed by Munjal to closely monitor the economic repercussions of the pandemic and, its impact on the organisational supply chains.

The cell is overseeing planning of supply chain resumption as and when the situation normalises, medical support for employees and their families, and support for communities around key manufacturing facilities, the company said.

Reliance Industries on Monday said it will pay contract and temporary workers wages even in case of no work due to coronavirus outbreak, set up India’s first dedicated Covid-19 hospital in Mumbai, ramp up face-mask production capacity and provide

Reliance Industries on Monday said it will pay contract and temporary workers wages even in case of no work due to coronavirus outbreak, set up India’s first dedicated Covid-19 hospital in Mumbai, ramp up face-mask production capacity and provide free meals and fuel to deal with the crisis.

To deal with the pandemic, India’s largest company in a statement said it has “initiated a multi-pronged prevention, mitigation, and ongoing support strategy” which can be ramped up further to scale as required.

Sharing the measures, the oil-to-telecom conglomerate said it has set up “India’s first dedicated Covid-19 hospital”.

“In a short time-span of just two weeks, Sir H N Reliance Foundation Hospital in collaboration with the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), has set up a dedicated 100-bedded centre at Seven Hills Hospital, Mumbai for patients who test positive for Covid-19.
“This first-of-its-kind-in-India centre is fully funded by Reliance Foundation and includes a negative pressure room that helps in preventing cross-contamination and helps control infection. All beds are equipped with the required infrastructure, biomedical equipment such as ventilators, pacemakers, dialysis machine and patient monitoring devices,” it said.

Also, Sir H N Reliance Foundation Hospital in Mumbai has also offered to set up special medical facilities to quarantine travellers from notified countries and suspected cases identified through contact tracing. “This will quickly augment additional facilities for isolation and treatment of infected patients.”

Reliance has built a fully-equipped isolation facility in Lodhivali, Maharashtra and handed it over to the district authorities even as Reliance Life Sciences is importing additional test kits and consumables for effective testing.

“Our doctors and researchers are also working overtime to find a cure for this deadly virus,” the statement said.

With 415 cases of the coronavirus and seven deaths, several cities and states have declared lockdown to check the spread of the virus. India Inc has joined the government effort to deal with the crisis.

Reliance said it is raising its production capacities to produce 100,000 face-masks per day and a large number of personal protective equipment (PPEs), such as suits and garments, for the health-workers to equip them further to fight the coronavirus challenge.
“Reliance will provide free fuel for all emergency service vehicles used to transport Covid-19 patients and quarantined people,” it said.

In addition, Reliance Foundation will provide free meals to people across various cities in partnership with NGOs to those whose livelihood has been impacted by the current crisis.
The firm said it “will continue to pay contract and temporary workers, even if work has halted due to this crisis.”

For its employees earning below Rs 30,000 per month, salaries will be paid twice a month to protect their cashflow, the statement said.

“Reliance has moved most of its employees to its Work-From-Home platform except for those who are manning critical roles in maintaining the Jio (telecom) network for nearly 40 crore customers and for providing an uninterrupted supply of fuel, grocery and other essential items of daily consumption.”

On its retail business, the company said: “all the 736 grocery stores of Reliance Retail across the country will ensure sufficient supply of essentials, including staples, fruits and vegetables, bread, breakfast cereals and other items of daily use so that citizens need not stock up.”
“Grocery stores to open longer – from 7 am to 11 pm – wherever possible,” it said adding the firm is activating ordering from home and delivery for senior citizens as well as activating order and pick-up from storefront so that the consumers and store staff are not exposed.

Reliance Retail will ply vehicles with essential items in certain areas for sale to customers at their doorsteps during the complete lockdown, the statement said adding the firm’s petrol pumps will remain open to customers to ensure there is no shortage of fuel.

All store staff are adequately trained and protected with masks and follow a strict hygiene regime, it added.

To enable India remains connected during the lockdown, Reliance’s telecom arm, Jio is combining its digital capabilities with Microsoft Teams, the unified communication and collaboration hub for teamwork in Office 365, to enable individuals, students, educational and healthcare institutions to continue their professional lives while still practising social distancing.
Its broadband service, JioFiber will provide 10 Mbps of connectivity, wherever geographically feasible, without any service charges, for the lockdown period. “Jio will also provide home gateway routers with a minimum refundable deposit.”

“Jio will provide double-data across its 4G data add-on vouchers. It will also bundle non-Jio voice calling minutes in these vouchers at no additional cost, to meet the increased need of these services,” the statement added.

Taiwan-based TSC Auto ID Technology (TSC) has donated 300 pieces of barcode printers to nearly 20 hospitals among different cities in China to fight the deadline disease Novel Coronavirus. The donation has been made as part of the CSR drive. It has been done along

Taiwan-based TSC Auto ID Technology (TSC) has donated 300 pieces of barcode printers to nearly 20 hospitals among different cities in China to fight the deadline disease Novel Coronavirus.

The donation has been made as part of the CSR drive. It has been done along with its Chinese partner, TSC said in a statement.

TSC barcode printers will support healthcare frontline for varied application including patients ID tracking, hospital admission, hospital nursery, specimen/blood labeling, medication tracking, staff ID stamp, access control and healthcare materials management to enhance healthcare workforce and medical treatment efficiency.

On this occasion, TSC president Sam Wang said: “We should all join hands to fight this epidemic and help the people in China suffering from this severe outbreak in whatever possible way we can.

And we really hope this small gesture of lending a helping hand to the hospitals can help the authorities to facilitate the treatment facilities in a better and efficient way,” he said in a statement.

TSC has three decades of experience dedicated to barcode and label printers, with more than five million installed in over 90 countries. The company is among the top five manufacturers of thermal label printers in the world.

French electrical equipment maker Legrand’s Indian subsidiary has kickstarted a tele-medical health centre for the people in Haridwar in Uttarkhand and Jalgaon in Maharashtra. The company has collaborated with Mumbai-based Nanavati Hospital for setting up of a tele-medicine centre as part

French electrical equipment maker Legrand’s Indian subsidiary has kickstarted a tele-medical health centre for the people in Haridwar in Uttarkhand and Jalgaon in Maharashtra.

The company has collaborated with Mumbai-based Nanavati Hospital for setting up of a tele-medicine centre as part of its corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiative in India, an official statement said.

The Centre will aid in free super-speciality tele-consulting for patients for whom specialist healthcare is difficult to reach, it said.

The facility will enable patients to connect with the doctors on a real-time basis through audio/video technology.

Patients can diagnose and submit their health data such as BP, blood test, X-Ray online which will be remotely made available to the doctor sitting at Nanavati Hospital with the help of paramedical staff available at the centre.

Doctor and patient can then be connected real-time through audio-video. This technology also enables doctors to use a digital stethoscope to listen to the heart, lungs similar to a physical examination and subsequently prescribe relevant medicine.

This CSR project is designed to be sustainable and scalable considering it can be replicated in other locations for Legrand.

Mumbai-headquartered Legrand has three state-of-the-art manufacturing units, seven training centers and two R&D center in India. The group has manufacturing facilities in 90 countries and its products are sold in over 180 countries.

HERE Technologies, the global leader in mapping and location platform services, has partnered with an international hunger relief organization ‘Rise Against Hunger India’ for packing 3,00,000 meals for the undernourished and less fortunate. The partnership has also led to the development

HERE Technologies, the global leader in mapping and location platform services, has partnered with an international hunger relief organization ‘Rise Against Hunger India’ for packing 3,00,000 meals for the undernourished and less fortunate.

The partnership has also led to the development of a hunger map and tracking system that will enhance the organization’s evaluation process and monitoring of meal distribution to its partners, the company said in a statement.

Part of the company’s Social Innovation efforts, the project was launched mid of 2019 and results will be launched in the new year.

Commenting on the initiative, HERE Technologies Vice President (Global Content Operatons) Damandeep Kochhar said as per UNICEF’s 2019 report, malnutrition caused 69 per cent of deaths of children below the age of five in India.

The unavailability of quality nutrition is one of the biggest life threats to a major chunk of India’s population, he said, and added that the ‘Rise Against Hunger’ is known for its continual commitment to eliminate hunger and they have taken commendable steps in providing wholesome meals to people in need.

“This year, not only did we pack 3,00,000 meal packets within two hours, but we also achieved another key milestone – packing the millionth packet globally,” he said.

In the days to come, the meal packets will be distributed to multiple beneficiaries across Maharashtra including children, HIV-positive individuals, women, patients of tuberculosis, and the elderly.

Undernutrition is one of the key issues plaguing India today. In a country where 60 per cent of the population earns less than USD 3 a day, it is not surprising that according to Food and Agriculture Organization, around 195 million people go hungry daily in India with 1 in 4 children being malnourished.

As part of its CSR tenet, HERE Technologies strongly believes in giving back to the society and providing less fortunate communities with necessary resources and welfare measures to help them grow and flourish.

Rise Against Hunger India Executive Director Dola Mohapatra said, “With partners like HERE, every year we come even closer to our vision of eradicating hunger by 2030.”

RB, a consumer Health and Hygiene Company, under its flagship Dettol Banega Swasth India aims at bringing awareness around sexual wellbeing among children and the LGBTQ community with two collaboration programs. The collaboration with ADRA, Love Matters and Itv foundation, is aimed at introducing

RB, a consumer Health and Hygiene Company, under its flagship Dettol Banega Swasth India aims at bringing awareness around sexual wellbeing among children and the LGBTQ community with two collaboration programs.

The collaboration with ADRA, Love Matters and Itv foundation, is aimed at introducing a comprehensive sexual health curriculum for children. The program will reach out to 20,000,000 children above the age group of 10 years across 10,000 schools in seven North Eastern States of India.

The goal of this project is to provide lifesaving, critical information on SRHR (Sexual and Reproductive Health & Rights) that empowers adolescents, promotes healthy behaviour, encourages community engagement and inclusion, and helps adolescents develop into healthy, responsible adults.

Banega Swasth LGBTQ India program in partnership with The Humsafar Trust aims at impacting lives of more than 1 million LGBTQ people in India. The holistic program will strengthen and bring together an Integrated Network for Sexual Minorities (INFOSEM).

The program will work in partnership to ensure inclusion and mainstreaming of the LGBTQ community in India through strengthening community network and capacity development of the community-based organization (CBOs).

The project will provide capacity-building workshops, training and funding support to conduct activities in their region. To support this project, a range of Durex condoms, lubricants will be provided with a message of safe sex among younger LGBTQ communities.

According to the Department of AIDS Control, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India, HIV and AIDS prevalence rates in Manipur and Nagaland are 1.57 and 1.2 per cent respectively and well above the national average of 0.34 per cent. Despite the North Eastern region being less populated, there are close to 100,000 people who live with HIV and AIDS in the eight northeastern states in comparison to other states in India.

The factors responsible for the epidemic are complex and can be contrasting for different regions, restricting the use of a single approach for HIV control nationally. Therefore, continuous monitoring for prevalence and causes of disease at the district level is necessary for making control programs more effective.

Addressing the issue, a group of thought-leading organizations, including RB, ADRA, Love Matters and Itv foundation, have come together and designed a comprehensive curriculum aimed at improving knowledge, awareness and behaviour among children:

Philips India a leader in health technology has launched an awareness camoaign under its CSR inititive to boost focus on childhood pneumonia. The aim of this campaign is to reach parents, family and caregivers and bring them up to date with it’s harmful effects.

Philips India a leader in health technology has launched an awareness camoaign under its CSR inititive to boost focus on childhood pneumonia.

The aim of this campaign is to reach parents, family and caregivers and bring them up to date with it’s harmful effects.

India has the highest number of childhood pneumonia cases in the world, both in terms of morbidity and mortality. Around 1.5 lakh children lose their life due to pneumonia each year with 30 million new cases reported annually. In children under five years, pneumonia contributes to nearly a sixth (15%) of all deaths in India, with one child dying from pneumonia every four minutes.

Through this campaign, we aim to focus on both urban and rural areas and reach out to the people through multiple mediums including TV, radio, print, digital, social media channels and on-ground initiatives.

Daniel Mazon, Vice Chairman and Managing Director, Philips Indian Subcontinent, said, “The key to preventing pneumonia in children below the age of 5 years is identifying those at risk and educating parents and caregivers on its diagnosis and treatment. Philips is committed to contribute towards the reduction of cases of childhood pneumonia in India through this nationwide awareness campaign.”

The global fight against Aids Pandemic caused by human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection has to intensify. India is home to 2.1 million people living with HIV stands third globally out of 36.7 million people worldwide. The global fight against HIV has witnessed many different institutions coming

The global fight against Aids Pandemic caused by human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection has to intensify. India is home to 2.1 million people living with HIV stands third globally out of 36.7 million people worldwide.

The global fight against HIV has witnessed many different institutions coming forward to do their bit for improving the situation. World Health Organisation (WHO) believes that we will require rapid acceleration over the next five years and sustained action throughout till 2030 and beyond to win this fight.

Diagnosis of HIV is a major impediment in the way of eradication of the disease. Further, it also requires post-diagnosis counselling, support and treatment. Awareness has been playing a key role in reducing the cases of HIV/AIDS patients in India. This year many different institutions came forward to contribute their bit towards this fight.

Vedanta, a diversified natural resources company under its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programme, organised awareness camps and outreach health programmes. These were spread across different parts of the globe for employees, contractors and communities. The company held HIV testing camps, blood donation drives and panel discussions. “Amplifying awareness reduces the risk of spread of the disease and access to modern healthcare facilities in rural communities is essential towards the holistic development of communities,” said Roma Balwani, President, Group Communication & Sustainable Development, Vedanta.

Infrastructure developers also came forward for contributing towards this occasion. Emaar India, a real estate developer organised AIDS awareness and education sessions in Mohali and Gurgaon. The company saw the participation of over 8,000 people organising an awareness march to different colonies in their neighbourhood.

Apart from outreach programmes, few companies came up with modernised communication techniques to spread awareness on this issue. Durex, a global sexual well-being brand used the power of social media to promote safe sex amongst young people. The company unveiled ‘Umbrella with raindrops’ as the unofficial safe sex emoji for putting safe sex back on the agenda. A survey carried out by the company found that most people were uncomfortable discussing safe sex, but 72% of the respondents found it easier to express their emotions through emojis.

Entertainment can be a good medium for spreading awareness and sharing information. Sony Pictures Network, through its Hollywood movie channels, urged people to take the right step forward by running public service messages throughout the day. Saurabh Yagnik, EVP and Business Head, English Cluster, Sony Pictures Networks India said, “A social message narrated through the medium of entertainment has always been more effective. We believe that it is our duty to facilitate awareness for a sensitive subject like AIDS and our strong messaging will resonate with the campaign against AIDS, urging our viewers to be safe and responsible.”

Many individuals from all walks of life also came forward to do their bit ranging from forming human chains in the shape of red ribbon, awareness rallies, community programmes, etc.

People living with HIV in the country are also subjected to severe psychological trauma. Dr IS Gilada, President, AIDS Society of India commenting on this said, “Unfortunately, in the society we live in, HIV test report tends to tell about the character of a person. We fail to understand other reasons for the transmission of the virus apart from a sexual relationship.”