Category: Health

Lahore (Muhammad Yasir)  BASF presented a broad range of animal nutrition products and solutions to help the poultry industry innovate and produce the best quality feed, at the International Poultry Expo 2018 in Lahore, Pakistan.

Feeding more animals for the growing meat, milk and egg demand while saving the environment is the key challenge for the feed industry and farmers. At the exhibition, BASF showcased its comprehensive portfolio of feed additives including organic acids, enzymes, carotenoids, vitamins, and glycinates that ensure more effective and sustainable output for the animal feed industry and local farmers.

The event attracted key feed industry stakeholders, customers, value chain players, distributors, influencers and government officials.

BASF Nutrition & Health provides a comprehensive product and service portfolio for the human and animal nutrition, pharmaceutical and flavor & fragrance industries. With innovative solutions and modern technologies, we help our customers improve their business efficiency and the sustainability of their products. Our human nutrition solutions include vitamins and carotenoids, plant sterols, emulsifiers and omega-3 fatty acids. Vitamins and carotenoids also form an important part of our animal nutrition portfolio, as do other feed additives such as trace elements, enzymes and organic acids. We provide the pharmaceutical industry with a broad range of excipients and selected large-volume active pharmaceutical ingredients such as ibuprofen and omega-3 fatty acids. Furthermore, we offer aroma ingredients such as citral, geraniol and L-menthol. BASF Nutrition & Health operates sites in Europe, North America, South America and in Asia Pacific. For more information, go to www.basf.com.

BASF has been present in Pakistan for more than four decades. With production in Karachi, BASF offers innovative solutions for key local business sectors. BASF maintains offices in Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad and Sialkot. Further information on BASF in Pakistan is available on the Internet at www.basf.com/pk.

Lahore (Muhammad Yasir)  Greenstar Social Marketing (GSM), an independent network member of Population Services International, has planned a ‘Service Provider Performance Accreditations Program’ to celebrate World Contraception Day (WCD), in five cities of Pakistan from September 24 to 28.

WCD takes place on September 26 every year, and the annual worldwide campaign centers around a vision where every pregnancy is wanted. The mission of WCD is to improve awareness of contraception and to enable young people to make informed choices on their sexual and reproductive health.

Being a largest private sector NGO, Greenstar with their USP and strength has always been a support to its service providers. To acknowledge their efforts in improving the lives of numerous families through developments of family planning in Pakistan, Greenstar has organized number of events in the cities including Peshawar, Faisalabad, Lahore, Multan and Sukkur beginning from September 24.

Speaking at the event, Dr. Syed Azizur Rab, CEO – GSM, said, “Greenstar is grateful to have a large network of service providers who are assisting us in improving the lives of numerous families for more than 27 years. Therefore, recognizing high performing providers becomes essential to motivate them in furthering their practice through rewards so as to maintain long-term relationships in the form of services with GSM.”

Karachi (Muhammad Yasir) Coca-Cola Pakistan is partnering with WWF-Pakistan and the National Volunteer Programme to conduct a beach clean-up activity at the Seaview Beach on Saturday, September 15, to commemorate the International Coastal Clean-up Day. This Day is observed throughout the world, and seeks to draw public attention to the urgent need for everyone to work towards stopping the increasing pollution of the world’s seas and oceans.

Over one hundred volunteers belonging to the National Volunteer Programme (NVP) will be participating in this activity, titled Beaches Without Waste. Both male and female volunteers will include university students, corporate executives, professionals, social activists and members of the digital community. The activity will clean up over 300,000 square meters of the public beach, with litter being collected in separate colour-coded bags for plastic waste, paper waste and other waste, to facilitate recycling as far as possible. 

Speaking about the activity, Coca-Cola Pakistan General Manager, Rizwan U. Khan said, “This activity is a small but significant component of Coca-Cola’s global product packaging policy, ‘World Without Waste’, launched on January 19, 2018, under which the Company will help bring back a bottle or can for every single one that it sells by year 2030. The goal is to make recycling more accessible to achieve 100% collection and recycling by 2030, creating public awareness about what, how, and where to recycle, with continued focus on making all packaging 100% recyclable. Towards this end, the Company is actively partnering with local communities, NGOs, industry, the government, and with consumers, to try and ensure that packaging doesn’t end up where it doesn’t belong.”

The WWF and Coca-Cola representatives will give a detailed briefing to the volunteers at the start of the activity, following which the volunteers will be form into teams and carry out the clean-up activity in designated areas. At the end of the activity all the waste collected will be weighed and then taken away for recycling and proper disposal.

Lahore (Muhammad Yasir) Coca-Cola has partnered with Rotary Pakistan National Polio plus Committee, and UNDP as administrative partner, for the project ‘Zindagi’, with a mission to provide clean drinking water and mitigating the transmission of water-borne diseases in Pakistan. The US$80,000 project is currently in its second phase and has been funded by The Coca-Cola Foundation, and the fourth of five solar-powered filtration plants in this phase has been inaugurated in Basti Rahim Baksh, Renala Khurd, Okara District. Around 100,000 individuals, including 20,000 women and 40,000 children, will be benefiting through Zindagi phase 2 project.  The plant was jointly inaugurated by MPA Mrs. Jugnu Mohsin, Coca-Cola Pakistan’s Director PAC, Fahad Qadir, and Rotary National Chair Aziz Memon. 

The Phase 2 of the project was launched earlier this year for providing convenient access to clean drinking water to a population of 140,000 across Punjab and Sindh’s catchment areas, with each plant recharging 3,000 gallons of water twice a day per shift. Previously, the very first reverse osmosis plant in Malir town of Karachi installed in 2014 has helped in the reduction of water-borne diseases by an estimated 70%. 

Speaking about the partnership between Coca-Cola and Rotary, Fahad Qadir, said “This is the 12^th solar powered water filtration that has been installed in a water-stressed area with the vision to provide potable water for rural households across Pakistan. Our partnership with Rotary has been internationally acclaimed on Rotary Day at United Nations HQ as the best example of responsible and inclusive partnership to eradicate polio from Pakistan. With a deep commitment for Pakistan’s welfare, our ethos is to create shared value through sustainable development, which is reliant on the health of our nation.”

The land for the installation of the water filtration plant has been donated by Mrs. Jugnu Mohsin and a symbolic key was presented to the local authorities at the inauguration, highlighting the importance of project sustainability through community’s contribution. Speaking at the ceremony, Mrs. Mohsin highlighted “I am proud to be part of a project that seeks community’s wellbeing especially through the provision of clean drinking water. When multinationals like Coca-Cola, Rotary and UNDP come forward for a joint cause, that’s when change happens for the better. However, we would still need the locals of Renala Khurd to take ownership of this water filtration plant and teach children, men and women about the importance of hygiene and safe use of water. Polio can paralyze a nation, so let’s join hands to prevent this disease before it’s too late.” 

Thanking Mrs. Mohsin at the ceremony Mr. Memon said, “Polio is a water borne viral disease and unfortunately Pakistan still suffers with this epidemic. However, our efforts with partners like Coca-Cola, UNDP and Government authorities have truly played in instrumental role with almost a reduction by 90% in the polio cases this year. This water filtration plant is our testament to the community of Okara and we will have a polio-free Pakistan soon.”  

Easier access to clean drinking water helps in improving mortality rates and living standards and it allows women to save time which was previously utilized for the collection of water from far away sources. With community-level awareness campaigns about hygiene and medical education, the medical expenses of families will also decrease due to reduction in diseases. 

 

Karachi (Muhammad Yasir)  Engro Foods Limited participated in a resourceful seminar on Food Safety and Nutritional Policies, to enrich the discussions with its valuable experience as a leading provider of dairy products in Pakistan. The event held at the Institute of Agricultural Sciences (IAGS) attracted internationally reputed experts of nutrition. Engro Food’s participation in this insightful forum reflects the commitment of this enterprise to improve the standards of nutrition in the society, while it inspires a white-revolution through tangible reforms that promise food-security and healthy nourishment for the masses.

The theme of this seminar was: “An Over-view of Food Safety & Nutrition Policies in the Western World: An Opportunity for Pakistan to Benefit from the Experience”. During the productive discussions, learned speakers like Dr. Atiq Rehman – Senior Scientific Project Coordinator, Bureau of Nutritional Sciences & Health Canada, along with Engro Foods’ Manager Regulatory Affairs – Dr. Muhammad Nasir, shared their wisdom with the audience. Notable policy-advisors like; Mr. Mustajab Ahmed, also represented the Pakistan Society of Food Scientists & Technologists (PSFST) to enlighten the large number of distinguished personalities from the private sector, business community, regulatory institutions, academic faculty and students, who attended the event.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Rehman said that; “Safe and Nutritious Food is a basic human right and is essential for a healthy nation. Government institutions play a key role in ensuring supply of safe and nutritious food. Pakistan’s food-regulators needs to realign their strategy, with the evolving needs, to ensure a sustainable future. The agricultural sector is currently at the cross roads to take maximum advantage of newer technologies to ensure food-security. The vast amount of data available in a digitized world can be smartly utilized to multiply agricultural output and optimize distribution and consumption of food products in every region, with more transparency.”

Dr. Rehman’s speech was followed by an elaborate discussion on the structure of Food regulatory bodies existing in countries like Canada, USA, EU, Australia and New Zealand. Pakistan must take advantage of the learnings from these developed nations. The participants concluded that; All stakeholders, institutions, businesses and universities must support the Government in achieving these national objectives. Every citizen is equally responsible for the supply of safe and nutritious food across the nation, especially the deprived segments. The role of science is critical in enhancing the per-acre yield, to meet the growing demands of the booming population in Pakistan and other South Asian countries.

The need for a centralized, more integrated food-regulatory body and monitoring system in Pakistan was also highlighted. Achievements of the provincial food-authorities were appreciated, as they have come a long way in implementation of reforms and new food-laws formulated by technically qualified experts.

Prof. Dr. Mahmood Saleem – Director ORIC Punjab University appreciated the efforts of Prof. Dr. Muhammad Saleem Haider – Director IAGS and Dr. Shinawar Waseem Ali, Coordinator Food Science & Technology, the founders of this informative seminar, which will create great opportunities for growth. It will create awareness among the masses while encouraging the public and private sector to work in cohesion. Towards the end of the event, Prof. Dr. Javed Iqbal Qazi – Dean Faculty of Life Sciences presented shields among the distinguished guests, to acknowledge their participation and great contributions to the food industry.

Pakistan’s leading home appliance brand was awarded by SGS – world’s leading inspection,testing and certification Company

Lahore (Muhammad Yasir)  Dawlance – Pakistan’s no.1 home appliances brand, bagged the prestigious OHSAS 14001:2015 certification for occupational health and safety, which was presented to the organization by SGS – a multinational company headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland which is known for providing inspection, verification, testing and certification services, and has also featured on Forbes Global 2000 thrice; in 2015, 2016 and 2017 respectively.

Dawlance CEO Mr. Salih Arslantas was certified with the Environmental Management System 14001:2015 Award from the Managing Director of SGS Pakistan – Mr. Abdul Razzak Lakhani, during a ceremony held at Dawlance head office.

OHSAS 14001:2015 is an internationally applied British standard for occupational health and safety management systems, which aims to assist organizations put in place demonstrably sound occupational health and safety performance, thus being a widely recognized certification globally.

Speaking at the awards announcement, Dawlance Head of Human Resource, Muhammad Ahmad Khan said, “As an organization and being Pakistan’s one of the most loved home appliance brand, we are very conscious of developing our business in a safe and sustainable manner.”

“This award is a reflection of our commitment to excellence in everything we do and are directly aligned to our values of creating a difference and caring. This has been mainly possible due to the hard work and dedication of all of our people who make both health, safety and sustainability key priorities, while the international recognition is a great achievement and is another step forward, this time upgrading on the European standards,” he added while being thankful to SCG to have received the accreditation.

Celebrations took place across the Dawlance team, while sweets were distributed to the staff on behalf of the higher management along with a ‘thank you’ note which was to value the hard work and all-out efforts put in from various departments including Production Technologies, H&S, Engineering, Supply Chain, Admin & IR, Purchase, Quality Assurance Unit (QAU) and other leading departments.

Karachi (Muhammad Yasir)  Engro Foods Goes Green to celebrate the 71st Independence day on 14th August,2018. EFL planted 2100+ tree saplings nation-wide through their teams along with students of TCF school, Government schools & UVAS (University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences). This initiative started with EFL’s Pakistan Leadership team, as a commitment to bring environmental sustainability now and for generations to come.

Engro Foods core purpose revolves around providing better nutrition to the Pakistani nation, they commit to achieve this while operating as an environmentally responsible company. During this plantation drive EFL teams conducted informative sessions to engage the students and create public awareness about; personal hygiene, importance of plants for health and caring for the environment. EFL teams discussed ways to protect and care for the earth’s ecology, while they reiterated their resolve for a greener nation.

Within the current year, EFL has made a strong commitment towards creating a positive ecological impact for environmental sustainability. EFL is gradually converting its Milk Collection Centers and branch offices in rural areas on to Solar-powered energy.

Saud Ahmed Pasha, Director Agri Business & Corporate Affairs stated; “Engro Foods commits to operate as an environmentally responsible company to reduce our impact on the environment and achieve ecological sustainability which is the need of the hour to nurture a healthy and productive society.”

Only 2.5 percent of Pakistan’s territory is covered by forests, while the country has the highest annual rate of deforestation in Asia. This reflects a critical need for large-scale plantation drives, to control climate change and environmental-degradation, which have already started causing extreme weather events like; heat waves, rain-storms, etc. Hence EFL is playing a lead role in plantation and preservation of the ecological balance.” Besides public sector, there is an increased responsibility on the corporate sector, communities and other stakeholders, to divert more resources and efforts towards large-scale plantation-drives.

Reckless urbanization is also a serious threat that is damaging Pakistan’s forests, vegetation and agricultural lands. So far, the ‘Billion-Tree Tsunami’, launched by the provincial government of Khyber-PakhtunKhwa, has been the biggest plantation-initiative in Pakistan. This internationally applauded initiative must be replicated by other provincial governments and the federal authorities too.

 

Lahore (Muhammad Yasir)  World Breastfeeding Week (WBW) is celebrated every year from 1 to 7 August across the world to encourage breastfeeding and improve the health of babies. This year theme of WBW is BREASTFEEDING: Foundation of Life.  Breastfeeding has a multitude of benefits for women and children, regardless of whether they live in a rich or poor household.  As per Lancet, a reputable medical journal Breastfeeding saves lives and improves health.  As a perfectly adapted nutritional supply, breastmilk is the ultimate personalized medicine which may save about 820,000 lives a year, 87% of them infants under 6 months of age.  It also helps to prepare children for a prosperous future. Longer breastfeeding is associated with higher performance on intelligence tests among children and adolescents.

Despite the high cultural acceptance for breastfeeding in Pakistan, the country has the highest bottle-feeding rates and lowest exclusive breastfeeding rates in South Asia. The percentage of exclusively breastfed children in Pakistan has remained static, with just a microscopic increase evident, over the last seven years. According to the Demographic Health Survey, this percentage has risen only from 37.1 per cent in 2006-07 to 37.7 per cent in 2012-13. However, when it comes to the bottle-feeding race, Pakistan has no close competitors; bottle-feeding rates have risen from an already undesirable 32.1 per cent in 2006-07 to a shamefully high 41 per cent in 2012-13.

Pakistan was among the 118 countries who had voted in favor of adopting International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes during the World Health Assembly in May 1981. However, the legislation came very late in Pakistan when “The Protection of Breast-Feeding and Child Nutrition Ordinance, 2002” (XCIII Of 2002) was passed on 26th October 2002, and Pakistan became one of the 42 countries with legislation to adopt most of the articles of the Code. Currently, all provinces have adopted/passed provincial laws for protection and promotion breastfeeding. However, implementation of these laws is still a dream.

 Scaling Up Nutrition Civil Society Alliance Pakistan (SUNCSA, Pak); a coalition of over 150 civil society organizations together with SUN Academia & Research Network Pakistan, a network 52 Universities; is organizing multiple activities from provincial to community levels to highlight importance of breastfeeding during WBW this year. This also include vibrant social media campaign for promoting enabling social environment to support and encourage breastfeeding. 

In order to improve breastfeeding situation, SUNCSA, Pak suggest federal and provincial governments to enforce legislation on breast milk substitutes, provide supportive environment for maternity protection for women in employment and ensuring breastfeeding is initiated in maternity facilities and no infant formula is routinely used. CSA also suggest capacity building of health providers and community workers, to offer counselling on Infant Young Child Feeding (IYCF) and mother-to-mother support groups in the community, accompanied by communication strategies to promote breastfeeding, using multiple channels and messages tailored to the local context.

Karachi (Muhammad Yasir)  Ahsan Khan, renowned Pakistani celebrity, joins hands with Harpic, the leading toilet cleaning brand of Pakistan, to promote toilet hygiene across the country. This shared vision was exhibited by Ahsan and Harpic recently at an activity at The Garage School in Karachi.

According to a report by WaterAid, 79 million people in Pakistan lack decent toilet facilities. Based on this report, Pakistan is the seventh worst country in the world in terms of basic sanitation; a number aggravated by the lack of education around maintaining toilet hygiene. According to a report by UNICEF, in Pakistan, 110 children under the age of five die from Diarrheal-related diseases every day, often attributed to poor sanitation. While work needs to be done around ensuring that toilet facilities are accessible to everyone, many of these deaths are preventable by simply creating basic education around keeping toilets and bathrooms clean.

Harpic’s aim is to raise awareness around the importance of toilet cleaning across the country as part of a mission to achieve a cleaner Pakistan. Ahsan engaged with the kids at The Garage School to emphasize the importance of cleaning in schools and homes, especially ensuring cleanliness in the bathroom.

Ahsan Khan, the brand ambassador for Harpic, said “It deeply grieves me to see that the kids in Pakistan face different health issues which can easily be prevented with basic education around toilet hygiene. All it takes is awareness around the fact that clean toilets and bathrooms are critical in ensuring health and hygiene. With Harpic’s mission, we want to reach out to the people with the objective of educating them on toilet hygiene, thus, gradually moving closer to the vision of a cleaner Pakistan; a cause very close to my heart”.

Talking about this initiative, Akbar Ali Shah, Country Manager RB Pakistan, said, “As a company, we have aligned our corporate goal of spreading health and hygiene with the aim to create a cleaner and healthier Pakistan. Harpic is committed towards achieving this goal by spreading the critical message of toilet hygiene.”

Lahore (Muhammad Yasir)  In a bid to revolutionize the operations of the industry, National Foods Limited has launched its Trailblazers program to recruit top talent. The Trailblazers program is a Management Trainee program, which will induct students from Pakistan as well as the global market.

The new program will help pave the path for the future Gen Z, by inducting them in their selected function of the organization. This program functions on the belief that the coming generation is well equipped to trail its own path. The selected Trailblazers will be assigned two projects, one of which will be from the management, while the other will be of their own choosing. Their progression in the organization will be based on the performance and impact of the projects.

The Chief Executive of National Foods Limited—Abrar Hasan highlighted the benefits of implementing the program by saying, ‘We need to look towards the future of the industry and the economy of Pakistan. To leave a mark in the global market, we need to incorporate the Gen Z into our business operations. They hold the key to revolutionizing the market and leading us to great heights. National Foods Limited has always been a trailblazer, and we are committed to bringing on board the best resources available in the market.’

National Foods Limited has teamed up with Taar, a consulting company through Mettl, Taar’s Assessment Center. The organization uses a complete online testing method. The tests are designed to identify the right fit for the organization using comprehensive checks for attention to detail, problem solving, critical thinking, data analysis and analytical thinking. Around 3000 applications were received out of which 2100 were shortlisted for the Online Analytical Test, ensuring over 70% participation by applicants.

To ensure the hiring of the top talent in Pakistan, each Trailblazer will go through a rigorous selection process. After the online aptitude test, a total of 36 people will be broken into 6 groups where they will be observed for their participation and contribution to group discussions, time management, analytical, planning and strategic skills, innovative solutions, communication and presentation. The candidates will also take an online psychometric testing which will help the company gauge their job and organizational compatibility and help identify leadership potential.