MUMBAI: Reckitt Benckiser, world’s leading consumer Health and Hygiene Company, collaborates with Government of Maharashtra to help nourish mothers and children residing in tribal belt of the state and further improve their sanitation conditions.
At a meeting held with the Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Devendra Fadnavis, RB presented a cheque for Rs 13 crore towards Village Social Transformation Foundation (VSTF) to address a variety of determinants of malnutrition in children, adolescents and pregnant women in Nandurbar and Amravati districts of Maharashtra.
As per National Family Health Survey, around 38.4% children are stunted in Maharashtra; and about 40% are malnourished. As part of this association, RB aims to transform Nutritional status of children by a steep reduction of 40% in stunting and bring down childhood wasting to less than 5% by 2023.
RB along with the Government of Maharashtra intends to develop a healthy environment for pregnant woman, mothers and children by providing them with facilities and services. It further wants to strengthen the existing infrastructure; with an appropriate birth preparedness and complication readiness, ensure WASH facilities at delivery points to providing breastfeeding pods for mothers in government health facilities, thereby creating a place for healthy growth.
Commenting on the partnership, Rakesh Kapoor, CEO, RB said, “We are extremely proud to join hands with Government of Maharashtra in order to improve a grave problem which has led to poor Human Development Index of the state. At RB, we make conscious effort to drive behavior change and have been encouraging people to adopt better health and hygiene habits. As a socially responsible company, it becomes extremely important for us to improve and empower women and kids who are poorly nourished and provide them with a better infrastructure”.
“With one in every third malnourished child residing in India, malnutrition is causing more than 50 percent childhood deaths, which is a significant percent. Our aim is to improve and build a better sanitation facility for people residing in tribal areas of the state and further provide them with better nourishment that could add to their health”, he further added.
