PRESS RELEASE
Nov 11, 2014. Bangalore, India. Eighteen companies from a variety of sectors were named Healthy Workplaces in India this year, the second year of a pioneering public health program being implemented by Arogya World. At a high-profile award ceremony held today in advance of World Diabetes Day, Arogya World announced this year’s Healthy Workplace winners and commended them for their commitment to workplace wellness. The 2014 Healthy Workplaces are:
- Reliance Industries Limited – Hoshiarpur Manufacturing Division
- SKI Carbon Black (India) Pvt. Ltd, Unit-Hi-Tech Carbon, Patalganga
- Ultratech Cement Ltd., Unit – Vikram Cement Works
- Larsen & Toubro, Powai
- Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd.
- Ultra Tech Cement Ltd., Unit-Birla White
- Aditya Birla Nuvo Ltd., Unit – Madura Clothing;
- Brocade Communications Systems, Inc.
- Tata Chemicals Limited
- Emami Limited-Pantnagar
- Qualcomm India Pvt. Ltd.
- Meenakshi Mission Hospital & Research Centre, Madurai
- Capgemini Business Services (India) Ltd.
- Exide Industries Ltd – Hosur
- Synechron Technologies Pvt. Ltd.
- Holy Cross College (Autonomous), Trichy
- Myntra Designs Pvt. Ltd.
- Reliance Communications.
Dr. Thimappa Hegde, a neurosurgeon, and Director and Senior Consultant at Narayana Hridayalaya, was the chief guest. “To lead productive lives, people need to be physically and mentally fit. I congratulate these companies for taking important and proactive steps to improve the total well-being of their employees,” Dr. Hegde said.
With this year’s winners, Arogya World is one step closer to meeting its 2013 Clinton Global Initiative Commitment to Action: to get 100 companies in India to become Healthy Workplaces and help 1 million working professionals lead healthier lives, by 2016. The commitment partners include Aon, Public Health Foundation of India and NationWide, the Family Doctors.
“The winning companies deserve kudos for championing employee wellness, and for stepping up and becoming Healthy Workplaces this year. We are also grateful to our partners who are actively collaborating with us to use the workplace as a platform for chronic disease prevention. No one entity can do it alone, but together, we can make profound public health impact,” said Nalini Saligram, Ph.D., Founder and CEO, Arogya World.
Also joining Arogya World this year as partners on the Healthy Workplace program and offering additional complementary products and services that improve employee health, are: Jana Care, a start-up with innovative approaches to prevent and control diabetes; ITiffin, a healthy meals pioneer; and Karnataka Health Promotion Trust, a network of public health professionals committed to promoting health. In addition, Frost & Sullivan is using its considerable network and reach to help Arogya World advance workplace wellness in India.
“We are pleased this year’s Healthy Workplaces come from the private and public sectors and a variety of industries ranging from engineering and manufacturing to technology and healthcare. The Assessment team was impressed with the many innovative ideas that these organizations are using to foster workplace wellness,” said Dr. Geeta Bharadwaj, who leads the Healthy Workplace Initiative for Arogya World India Trust.
All companies completed a formal assessment and site visit as part of the Healthy Workplace process again this year and were invited to present their wellness innovations at a “best practices” workshop earlier today. The criteria that mark a workplace as “healthy” were previously developed by Arogya World for India with multi-stakeholder input.
Last year, when this pioneering public health program began, nine companies were recognized as the first of India’s Healthy Workplaces: iGATE, Wipro GE Healthcare, Reliance Infrastructure (Mumbai Transmission), MTR Foods, Emami Limited (Abhoypur), Infotech Enterprises Limited, Myntra Designs, Quinnox and Aon.
Non-Communicable Diseases, NCDs, including heart disease, diabetes, cancer and chronic lung diseases, are a huge burden in India. About 20 percent of the people are estimated to have at least one chronic condition. Some 60 million Indians live with diabetes and one million die from it each year. And Indians get type 2 diabetes about 10 years earlier that most Westerners, making the public health burden in the country truly alarming.
But these diseases are largely preventable. According to the World Health Organization, 80 percent heart disease, 80 percent type 2 diabetes and 40 percent of cancers are preventable with lifestyle changes including avoiding tobacco, eating healthy foods, and increasing physical activity.
Workplaces, where working people spend so much of their day, are regarded as an effective NCD prevention platform.
For more information reach Dr Geeta Bharadwaj, geeta@arogyaworld.org.