In this Interview with India CSR, Annappa Kamath, Senior Solutions Consultant Director, Parexel talks about the company’s key CSR focus areas, its COVID relief initiatives, and the strategy company adopted towards the ‘new normal’ amid the continuing COVID crisis. With over 20 years of experience in the industry including Client and portfolio management, Clinical Operations, and Project Management, he has a successful track record in numerous roles that span pre-phase I, phase I, II, III, and commercial drug development activities. Annappa Kamath is currently heading all CSR activities at the company. He has studies MBBS, Medicine, and has a PG Diploma in Psychiatry. He speaks on various COVID-related interventions, the overall reach is approximately 1,00,000 plus beneficiaries. Scroll down to read the interview excerpts.
What are the different CSR initiatives that Parexel has undertaken over the last few years before Covid hit?
Projects: Anganwadi refurbishment, strengthening government health systems in Bangalore and Hyderabad, and livelihood program in Chandigarh. Year: FY – 20’21. Project Brief: Born Learning Campaign (Anganwadi Refurbishment).
The BLC program collaborates with Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS), and the Women and Child Development Department (WCD) in urban and peri-urban Anganwadi centers to improve existing services for early child care and education. We support 20 centers, 10 in Bangalore and 10 in Hyderabad.
The program aims to ensure school readiness and holistic development for pre-school children up to the age of six. This includes ensuring access to an optimal learning environment, access to appropriate health; hygiene, and providing nutritional awareness through the active involvement of community stakeholders, and parent groups.
Upgradation of Health Care System
The current public health system lacks basic infrastructure facilities and has been overburdened with the onset of COVID-19. A sub-center is the first contact point between the Primary Health Centre (PHC) and the community and is responsible for bringing about behavioral change and providing services for maternal and child health, family welfare, nutrition, immunization, and control of communicable diseases.
The PHCs provide integrated curative and preventive health care to the rural population. To address the need of upgrading the PHC and its sub-centers, this project aims to equip PHCs and their attached sub-centers in rural geographies.
Under this initiative, Parexel is supporting two PHCs in Bangalore and one in Hyderabad.
Livelihood Program in Five Villages in Chandigarh
The project’s objective is to empower youth and women of this community to be able to identify work and craft opportunities to develop products that can then be made available to consumers via multiple channels, in particular e-commerce.
With some skill training and mentoring, the participants in the program can become positive contributors to their families and the extended community.
Tell us about the covid-relief operations that Parexel undertook since the start of the pandemic.
Nodal Hub Project
This project supports the larger initiative of mobile diagnostic labs for scaling up COVID-19 testing in India that commenced at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, in April 2020. This initiative proposed the design, procurement, remodeling, and deployment of a set of mobile diagnostic labs to implement ICMR approved COVID-19 confirmatory test protocols with approved lab designs, equipment, and test kits.
The nodal hub serves as a decentralized storage warehouse unit working in conjunction with a set of satellite labs – multiple sample pre-processing, sample processing, and testing labs—to enable testing to be conducted in a location away from central lab facilities. Formal design approval from ICMR for the mobile diagnostic lab facility includes one nodal hub in a 20 ft. container or bus, one sample pre-processing lab, one sample processing lab, and one sample testing lab.
Covid Vaccine Transportation Van
In India, approximately 25% of vaccines are wasted annually before reaching end users. This waste leads to supply shortages and eventual inflation in cost. The primary reason for this is an inefficient cold chain and logistics management system for last-mile delivery. In an ongoing pandemic, executing a vaccination drive at the grassroots level with minimal wastage is paramount. The existing cold chain network in India is overwhelmingly reliant on large, refrigerated trucks for delivery at the tertiary level and passive ice boxes for delivery at the primary healthcare level. The latter is necessary because active systems are either expensive, inefficient, or impractical when scaled down for last-mile delivery. This demands an efficient, affordable, and portable solution that can actively manage cooling for last-mile delivery to minimize waste.
Medical literature dictates that COVID-19 vaccines approved in India must be maintained in hypothermic conditions (2-8 °C).
To transport vaccines, thermo insulated vans are needed to reach remote beneficiaries.
Covid Relief Project in Wave 2 – Distribution of Oxygen Concentrators:
The second surge of COVID -19 In India has been more devastating than the first, It also appears to be different from last year’s surge in several ways, increasing worries and anxiety. Hospitals are running out of beds, oxygen, and basic medical facilities to treat COVID patients.
Patients and their families have been desperate for medicines, hospital beds, and oxygen. Due to this shortage, many families have lost their loved ones to the disease.
The health system across India struggled to keep up with demand and found itself unable to provide treatment for many COVID patients. In addition, hospitals are charging exorbitant rates to treat patients. The sight of ambulances queuing up outside crematoriums is unbearable.
Through the oxygen concentrators distribution program, oxygen is getting to those most in need, quickly.
Who are the partners (NGOs, help groups, etc.) that Parexel is currently working with? Please brief us about these collaborations.
Collaboration with United Way of Bengaluru: Parexel partnered with UWBe in October 2020 to support different initiatives in education, strengthening the health care system and infrastructure, livelihood support, training, and skilling in various locations in Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chandigarh, Mohali & Mumbai.
Choti Si Asha: United Way of Bengaluru partnered with Choti Si Asha for the livelihood program in five villages in Chandigarh. The project aims to provide skill training and mentoring to equip the beneficiaries to become positive contributors to their families and their extended community. The project involves various activities including motivational encouragement, identifying crafts, developing contemporary products, and then making their products available to consumers via multiple channels, particularly e-commerce.
Eklavya: Vocational training for speech and hearing impaired beneficiaries – Mumbai. Initiated in April 2021, United Way of Bengaluru partners with Ekalavya, and seeks to provide sustainable employment to participants through special skill training.
You recently donated vaccination vans to the government of Karnataka. What does this drive aim to achieve?
Covid Vaccine Transportation Van
In India, approximately 25% of vaccines are wasted annually before reaching end users. This wastage of vaccines leads to supply shortages and eventual inflation in cost. The primary reason for this is an inefficient cold chain and logistics management system for last-mile delivery. In an ongoing pandemic, executing a vaccination drive at the grassroots level with minimal wastage is paramount. The existing cold chain network in India is overwhelmingly reliant on large refrigerated trucks for delivery at the tertiary level and passive ice boxes for delivery at the primary level of healthcare. The latter is necessary because active systems are either expensive, inefficient, or impractical when scaled down for last-mile delivery. This demands an efficient, affordable, and portable solution that can actively manage cooling for last-mile delivery to minimize wastage.
Medical literature dictates that the COVID-19 vaccines approved in India be maintained in hypothermic conditions (2-8 °C).
To transport the vaccine, this kind of thermo insulated vans are needed, so that catering to remote beneficiaries could be possible for the Govt. and authority to transport these vaccines.
What has been the overall reach of Covid-related initiatives? Can you briefly describe the impact of these initiatives?
Through various COVID-related interventions, the overall reach is approximately 1,00,000 plus beneficiaries.
The BBMP and government will use the COVID Vaccine Transportation Van for the safe transport of the vaccines to various nodal hubs, government hospitals, and PHCs. This will help reduce vaccine wastage.
The COVID Relief Project in wave two, the distribution of oxygen concentrators, benefited patients suffering from COVID by helping to provide much needed medical oxygen which was in short supply
What are the major milestones that Parexel achieved through its CSR initiatives?
Milestones achieved
BLC program: Improvement in health outcomes, social-emotional skills, communication skills, and school readiness skills for children aged 0 – 6 years.
Upgradation of Health Care System: Improved access to preventive and curative healthcare, Improved health condition of the population and Reduced illness episodes among community members.
Livelihood Program
Empowered 100 women (via five clusters) by providing skill-based training to help them secure meaningful livelihood opportunities. Developed three to five new product designs using the skill set of the women in each skill-based cluster. Developed skill/product catalogs for the clusters enabling market linkages to be formed easily.
The Covid relief program reaches which cities/districts in India?
Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chandigarh, and other districts in Karnataka.
What are the other areas (other than Covid relief) that Parexel regularly pursues in CSR?
Education, health, livelihood, technology, and skill-based training.
Is Parexel undertaking any patient-related CSR programs?
Through the COVID relief oxygen concentrators donation project, medical equipment is being made available to help patients with compromised lung capacity and whose oxygen saturation levels are between 88 and 92.
What is your overall objective in terms of sustainability and corporate responsibility as an organization?
Enhancing the health and wellbeing of communities
Through various CSR projects, Parexel is committed to improving the health and overall wellness of the community. Putting patients first is at the heart of everything we do. We work in tandem with various charitable organizations around the world to help people live happier, healthy lives.
Technology and Innovations
Corporate responsibility is built into the culture and operations of Parexel, starting from our Mission, Vision, and Values and driven through the daily actions of our employees. This commitment has helped shape how we give back to the community. The Nodal Hub Project is a testimonial to this commitment.
This ambitious project supports the larger initiative of mobile diagnostic labs for scaling up COVID-19 testing in India that commenced at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, in April 2020. This initiative proposed the design, procurement, remodeling, and deployment of a set of mobile diagnostic labs to implement ICMR approved COVID-19 confirmatory test protocols with approved lab designs, equipment, and test kits.
Further, this state-of-the-art facility helps the researchers to conduct various research and study of the COVID virus.
(India CSR)
