Bringing medical help to where it’s needed
As a company with a long history in India, we are committed to help the communities where we live and work. Despite recent growth, some of the communities where we work still lack the infrastructure to develop up-to-date medical facilities.
That's why our Indian company, Hindustan Lever (HLL), is pairing up with local partners to provide basic medical services in villages near to our personal care products factory at Doom Dooma, in north east India. Many of the communities in this remote area of Assam lack access to modern medical facilities.
We have funded two ambulances to travel around the region's remote villages offering help. Each is manned by a male and female doctor, two nurses and a medical attendant. The vehicles are also equipped with diagnostic kits, X-ray displays, blood pressure measuring units, stretchers and medicines.
Rejuvenating communities
The mobile medical facilities camp for six hours in the villages they visit. Every day, the medical staff treat around 100 people. Typical activities include providing medicines for minor ailments, immunisation for children and free eye check-ups. Known as Sanjivani (the Hindi word for 'rejuvenation'), the project has provided medical assistance to more than 71 000 patients since it began in 2003.
The project also includes a range of health awareness programmes. Liaising closely with the district authorities, we have organised information campaigns on topics from hygiene and family planning to anti-smoking and anti-alcoholism. We also work with the government health department to help us focus our priorities.
Tridip Sarmah, Human resources manager at HLL's Doom Dooma factory, sums up the impact of the project: "True to the meaning of the word Sanjivani, this initiative has brought back a smile to the faces of thousands of villagers who were deprived of basic health facilities."
Sowing the seeds of independence
The Sanjivani project builds on our other initiatives in the area. One is the Ankur Centre. For more than ten years, the Centre has been working to train and rehabilitate local children with physical disabilities. The 64 children attending the Centre receive meals, healthcare and medical equipment. Older children, meanwhile, are taught skills that will help them become more independent and potentially earn a living in later life.
Ankur (which means 'seedling' in Hindi) is run with the help of volunteers from HLL employees' families. The Centre also provides parents with counselling and advice on ways to deal with their children’s disabilities. By involving the children's families and the local community, the Centre aims to promote a positive attitude to disability.
