We believe that an individual can add value to society if they are healthy and free from disease: Tribhuwan Joshi, Head CSR at Fujifilm

CSR should be focused on engaging with the public in order to bring about change and enrich the lives of people. CSR programs should constitute an important part of an organization’s plan like any other corporate policy.

NEW DELHI (India CSR): Head Brand Communication Public Relations and CSR at Fujifilm, Tribhuwan Joshi spoke to Rusen Kumar, India CSR about the key initiatives taken by Fujifilm in the recent months in healthcare, education, and environment space. He goes into detail about how Fujifilm as an organization is contributing towards a better and sustainable future. “CSR should be focused on engaging with the public in order to bring about change and enrich the lives of people. CSR programs should constitute an important part of an organization’s plan like any other corporate policy.”, he said.

What are Fujifilm’s key areas of work for CSR initiatives in India- Education, healthcare, and others?

Fujifilm’s key areas of work in the CSR space are primarily in the segments of Education, Healthcare and the environment. Our focus is to constantly address and resolve social and environmental challenges in order to lead a sustainable future. At Fujifilm, we believe that healthcare, education, and the environment should be looked at with an empathetic approach as they have the power to have direct aftermath which determines the quality of individual lives and the society we are residing into. Under our healthcare initiatives, we believe that an individual can add value to society if they are healthy and free from disease, even if they are not actively participating in any cause. For the environment, as an organization, we are adopting sustainable ways in our manufacturing processes globally which include our focus to lower carbon footprints along with utilizing judicious amounts of resources throughout the product lifetime.

We recently ran various programmes in India as part of our CSR initiatives.

In Association with Indian Cancer Society, recently we partnered with the Indian Cancer Society in its flagship program titled ‘Cancer Mukt Dilli’. Emphasizing the importance of ‘Early Detection; Early Cure’, the campaign will reach individuals living in semi-rural villages of Delhi NCR and belonging to the economically weaker sections of society. The aim of the campaign was to generate awareness around preventive screening and provide patient support wherever needed.

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Fujifilm also contributed at providing nutritional support by donating one Truenat machine in Kutch, 1 CB NAAT Machines in Waynad, and 1 CBNAAT machine in Amguri, for the detection of TB to the district TB officers of Kutch (Gujarat), Wayanad (Kerala), and Amguri (Assam). The company intends to raise TB awareness and help identify those with TB symptoms among the most disadvantaged people in society. Fujifilm also provided nutrition support through rice, salt, daal, gram (legumes), and oil in the Wayanad district of Kerala. The dry ration will be primarily provided to chosen TB patients from low-income families in need of nutrition assistance. The monthly donation was made six months after the project began, along with their medicines, during the patients’ follow-up at the district TB center. The total number of beneficiaries for testing through these donated NAAT machines turned out to be 46. We were also able to provide nutrition support to 504 in Wayanad.

Talking about our ‘Aao Padhai Karein’ campaign, in April 2022, Fujifilm partnered with Parwarish Cares Foundation under its ‘Aao Padhai Karein’ campaign for the betterment and overall development of the society. The company donated 1000 ‘YeloGreen Bags’, a student organizer for education, to underprivileged children allowing them to sit and learn comfortably at school and at home. These bags were donated to students of two schools in Haryana -Government Senior Secondary School and Country Grammar School.

As a part of our Aao Baat Karein, we partnered with Parwarish Cares Foundation for raising awareness about Child Sexual Abuse under the #AaoBaatKarein campaign. With the campaign, we reached out to 20 schools and educated around 3500 children. Fujifilm along with the Parwarish Cares foundation has touched 7,000 lives and reached out to several public as well as government schools to educate children about the issue.

How do you think human resources under excellent leadership can contribute towards the social development of society?

Employee Engagement and CSR are closely linked to each other. Believing in the idea that when an organization takes necessary steps for a better future for society, it encourages an employee as an individual to further take the pre-requisite measures for an excellent outcome in the near future. When a company is socially and ethically active, it urges the employees to bring more of their whole selves to work.

Elaborate on the recent partnership with the India Cancer Society under the ‘Cancer Mukht Dilli Campaign’ and the objective behind the campaign.

Fujifilm is committed to driving value from innovation. Keeping this brand philosophy at the core, we are committed to offering the most innovative medical technologies and advancements in order to increase accessibility to healthcare for everyone in this country. With our collaboration with the Indian Cancer Society, we hope to improve the understanding of cancer via the campaign ‘Cancer Mukht Dilli’. The campaign highlights the role of “Early Detection; Early Cure,” targeting the population living in semi-rural areas in Delhi NCR and belonging to the economically weaker parts of society.

Under this initiative, Fujifilm along with ICS successfully conducted 12 screening campaigns and screened around 1302 people. Under which the advanced cervical cancer screening camps conducted were 22, physical screening awareness camps were 10, and 27 camps for breast cancer screening for women. In addition to this, 12 individuals received monetary patient support, adhering to the fund utilization. For the results which turned out to be curative, the company rewarded them with the monetary support of up to 1 lakh per annum.

The campaign was further amplified with trained volunteers delivering cancer awareness talk sessions and distributing informative pamphlets. This was further amplified through platforms like social media and radio channels, electronic media & social networks to enhance knowledge and spread awareness about the disease and its prevention. Choosing radio as a powerful medium of communication among the Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, we conducted 9 comprehensive cancer screening awareness sessions on the radio.

The objective of this campaign was to raise awareness about preventive screening and offer patient assistance at an early stage. Our motive was to drive an understanding and recognition of the disease among the general public. As well as disseminate the message that if preventive screening for the detection of cancer could be done at an early stage, a patient can expect a timely and better recovery outcome for the disease.

What are the views on the significance of brands being active with CSR campaigns to contribute powerfully to the welfare of society?

We believe that the key objective behind any CSR initiative is communication to the masses and acknowledging them with the relevant ongoing social issues in the environment and society. CSR should be focused on engaging with the public in order to bring about change and enrich the lives of people. CSR programs should constitute an important part of an organization’s plan like any other corporate policy. The intention is to benefit society and engage in activities that benefit the people and address critical issues that require immediate attention.

The initiatives should be in line with the overall mission and vision of the brand and a cause that the organization relates with and truly believes in. Every organization brings a unique set of skills that when combined together can report resolving a major issue in society. Further, I believe that collaborations between businesses through CSR have the potential for social innovation that may be used to address present or upcoming critical issues.

Does Fujifilm have a policy that can make a bigger contribution to developing a sustainable society?

Fujifilm Group’s approach to corporate social responsibility is to contribute to the sustainable development of society by putting our Corporate Philosophy into practice through sincere and fair business activities. We not only aim to fulfill our economic and legal responsibilities but also endeavor to understand global as well as local environmental and social issues and create value to address these issues through our business activities. As well as continue to evaluate the environmental and social impact of our business activities and strive to improve our performance while increasing our positive impact on society. We constantly reassess whether our activities are responding adequately to the demands and expectations of society through proactive stakeholder engagement with our stakeholders. By actively disclosing information, we hope to increase corporate transparency.

By FY2030, the Fujifilm Group aims to reduce its CO2 emissions by over 50%. Fujifilm Group has been actively recycling requisite resources, by reducing water consumption, and recycling and reusing water. Additionally, the company has set up a recycling program for multifunction devices and copiers. The Fujifilm group is committed to undertaking stronger efforts to address the social challenges.

Fujifilm’s further plan as a brand to contribute towards a sustainable future?

Fujifilm is dedicated to ‘NEVER STOP’ innovating and aspiring to bring change to society. As a brand, we are focused on identifying the pertinent social and environmental issues that are crucial for a citizen to resolve. We will continue to follow a philanthropy approach and will be committed to our act of giving back to society, with our innovative CSR campaigns and initiatives aimed at benefiting society at large and spreading awareness regarding critical issues that need immediate attention.

The CSR Strategy for this year will be focusing on education, healthcare, and the environment. Fujifilm group is committed to undertaking stronger efforts to address the social challenges. Going forward we will be working towards improving healthier, and education for children and the environment through our various CSR initiatives to help society at large.

What are the views on the current CSR policies by the Indian government and the landscape in India?

The current CSR policy is a step further to encourage a transparent work policy and being complying with fair business practices. This would ensure a timeline in which certain CSR activities could be implemented by the organization as a result of which companies are forbidden from using any unused CSR funds for commercial endeavors, deducting charitable contributions from CSR expenses, or offsetting past CSR expenditures against current liabilities.

In the past decades, the funds reserved by the organization to develop a CSR campaign/initiative were not designated to the entitled party. The new CSR policy is a fantastic step to boost compliance and ensure that the CSR initiatives benefit the right people.

(Views are personal)

(CopyRight @ India CSR)