Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) major Hindustan Unilever Ltd. (HUL) has undertaken various initiatives towards its flight against COVID-19 in India.
As part of its commitment to contribute ₹100 crore in this war against the pandemic, the company has donated 74,328 RT-PCR COVID-19 testing kits worth ₹13 crore to help ramp up testing of patients in the country.
The government of Maharashtra has received about 28,800 RT-PCR testing kits to help in the early detection of COVID-19. Others who received the kits include Indian Council of Medical Research (20,160 kits), Metropolis Healthcare labs (8088 kits) and Apollo Hospitals (17,280 kits).
The testing kits consist of nucleic acid diagnostic kit, sample release reagent, throat swab, PCR tube and sample storage reagent.
Sanjiv Mehta, chairman and MD, HUL said, “Sufficient supply of testing kits and other medical equipment will help frontline warriors competently tackle the COVID-19 virus.”
“This will not only allow for free testing in critical regions, but also accelerate the process of testing asymptomatic patients, supplementing government efforts to flatten the curve and arrest the spread of the pandemic in the country,” he said.
Recently HUL had donated 29 ventilators worth ₹3 crore to government hospitals in Maharashtra.
Last month, it had also donated 5000 sets of PPEs, 20,000 N95 masks, 2,00,000 gloves, 112 pulse oximeter and 28 oxygen concentrators worth ₹2 crore to the Maharashtra Public Health Department.
HUL officials said that the company has been extending product donations and other support in states like Maharashtra, Delhi and around its manufacturing locations and offices in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.
Recently the company committed Rs 100 crore towards fighting the Covid-19 pandemic, undertakeing various initiatives to ensure safety of people and communities, product sourcing, and business continuity.
The initiatives include large scale awareness campaigns, providing free sanitation and hygiene products to COVID-19 frontline workers and underserved sections of the society, upgrading health care facilities in hospitals and testing centres, and setting up isolation centres to help local authorities curb COVID-19 spread, officials said.
The company is supporting around six lakh migrant labour families with food kits and essential hygiene and nutrition products post-lockdown to help fight COVID-19, they added.
It provided one lakh migrant labour families food kit for 15 days and soap to 5,00,000 families in community around its factories.
The company has also donated Horlicks biscuits and sachets to 5 lakh vulnerable children in the age group of 3 to 10 years in New Delhi worth ₹1 crore.
It has also donated Lifebuoy sanitisers to local police in cities such as Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Lucknow, Chennai, Indore and Bengaluru.
The company is supporting hospitals in Mumbai, Pune, Kolkata, Tamil Nadu, UP, Assam and several other areas by donating Lifebuoy soaps, handwash, sanitizers, Domex floor and bathroom cleaners.
Itvhas also distributed health kits, including health and hygiene products and food items for patients, health officials and low-income families, company officials said.
Two lakh Lifebuoy soaps worth ₹10 lakh were given to over 40,000 sanitation workers across Mumbai.
In partnership with Fullarton it has manufactured and donated 10 lakh medical-grade sanitizers to doctors and nurses to support India’s fight against COVID-19.
In Mumbai it has given more than 10,000 litres of Domex floor cleaners to the municipal corporation and hospitals for disinfecting community toilets, slums and hospitals impacting more than 50,000 people.
The company is supporting government hospitals to upgrade medical infrastructures by providing them with medical equipment.
Together with the local administration in Haridwar HUL has helped setup a 30-bed isolation facility in record time of three days to help fight curb the spread of COVID-19.
HUL is also working with United Nations Children's Fund and Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation to create public awareness campaign on social distancing and personal hygiene to prevent Covid-19.
It has ramped up production of sanitizers and handwash liquids and reduced prices of Lifebuoy soaps, handwash and Domex floor cleaners to make these affordable.