101 Arogya World Healthy Workplaces in India, with 2.3 million employees, address chronic disease among India’s workforce.
November 9, 2017, BANGALORE, India – Twenty-two more companies from a variety of sectors across India are being named as 2017 Healthy Workplaces today, in the fifth year of a powerful public health program underway by Arogya World, a global health non-profit. This brings the total number of Healthy Workplaces that Arogya World has recognized to date to 101, with a workforce of approximately 2.3 million employees. Arogya World started the Healthy Workplace program—and is systematically building a workplace-based ecosystem—to address non-communicable diseases (NCDs) among working Indians.
“We are pleased to have reached a major milestone this year with 101 Healthy Workplaces,” said Nalini Saligram, Ph.D., Founder & CEO, Arogya World. “By joining us, these winning companies have declared a genuine interest in workplace health, and we look forward to working with them and our other ecosystem partners to make a real difference in the health trajectory of future generations in India.”
The 2017 Healthy Workplaces are:
- GlaxoSmithKline, Sonepat
- NES International School, Mumbai
- Infosys Ltd.
- Mindtree
- GMR Group
- Indegene
- IQVIA
- BHEL Haridwar
- GAIL(India) Ltd.
- Tata Projects Ltd., Secunderabad
- Gujarat State Fertilizers and Chemicals Limited
- Hero Motocorp Ltd.
- Indiabulls Housing Finance Ltd.
- KPMG in India
- Ramaiah Medical College Hospitals
- Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd.
- RBL Bank Limited
- Reliance Infrastructure – Mumbai Distribution Business
- Bunt Sangha’s SM Shetty College of Science, Commerce and Management Studies, Powai
- SBI Capital Markets Limited
- Synopsys (India) Pvt. Ltd.
- India Steel Summit
This year’s Healthy Workplaces include employers from the public and private sectors spanning multiple industries: manufacturing, energy, IT, transportation, infrastructure, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, consulting, financial services, education, etc. They all met key criteria to earn the designation of a Healthy Workplace at the Bronze, Silver, or Gold level, and completed a formal assessment and site visit as part of the selection process.
For a complete list of Healthy Workplaces see: https://arogyaworld.org/programs/healthy-workplaces/.
Arogya World commends this year’s Healthy Workplace winners for their commitment to employee health and wellness at an award ceremony in Bangalore today. This award ceremony caps off a day-long Conference and educational event held in advance of World Diabetes Day. See the agenda at: https://arogyaworld.org/2017-agenda/.
At this event, Arogya World also recognized its first Tobacco-free Worksites: NTPC Ltd and TVS Motors. These two pioneering companies worked hard to implement a comprehensive and structured series of steps to get their worksites to become tobacco-free.
At the same event, Arogya World also announced the 2017 Platinum Healthy Workplaces.
Arogya World has assembled a dedicated project team with passionate individuals like Dr. Geeta Bharadwaj, Usha Chander, Rajat Gupta, Meeta Walavalkar, and Nandini Ganesh. This year’s conference and award event were made possible with the support of many partners including Platinum sponsor Cigna, Silver sponsor Reliance Industries Limited, our 101 Healthy Workplaces, and many partners such as Public Health Foundation of India, Indian Association of Occupational Health (Delhi chapter), UN Global Compact India, NHRD, HR Katha, Ashoka, Activ Doctors Online, and the Global Centre for Healthy Workplaces.
Arogya World will use its additional programs and services such as Tobacco-free Worksite Challenge, Lifestyle Coach led behavior change training which it is bringing to India for the first time from the US, its mobile app myArogya, the new nutritional icon myThali, corporate health talks on a variety of topics, etc. to help employees in Healthy Workplaces lead healthier lives.
A global health non-profit organization, Arogya World and its India affiliate, Arogya World India Trust, work hard to prevent noncommunicable diseases, NCDs – diseases like diabetes, heart disease, cancer and chronic lung diseases – through health education and lifestyle change. Arogya World targets workplaces for chronic disease prevention because work is where so many people spend a large part of their day. An estimated 20 percent of Indians have at least one chronic condition. Some 70 million Indians live with diabetes, and one million die from it each year. Indians develop type 2 diabetes in their 30s and 40s, at the peak of their productivity, and some 10 years earlier than most Westerners, making the public health burden in the country truly alarming. It is expected that there will be 869 million working-age Indians by 2020, making workplaces a smart platform for tackling NCDs.
According to the World Health Organization, NCDs are largely preventable with lifestyle changes – 80% of heart disease, 80% of diabetes and 40% cancer can be prevented by avoiding tobacco, eating healthy foods, and increasing physical activity.
For information on how to apply to be a Healthy Workplace in India, contact Dr. Geeta Bharadwaj at geeta@arogyaworld.org.