Johnson & Johnson announces progress towards health for humanity goals

Mumbai: Johnson & Johnson on 11th June released its ‘2017 Health for Humanity Report’, demonstrating its approach and the considerable progress it has made toward an ambitious social, environmental and governance commitment to advance the company’s mission to drive better health for all.

The report also highlights Johnson & Johnson’s pioneering public health initiatives in India, with a special focus on supporting the country’s efforts to eradicate deadly diseases such as tuberculosis (TB), progress in maternity and infant care and the company’s initiatives towards enhancing workplace diversity & inclusion.

“Johnson & Johnson works every day to ensure the next generation is healthier than the last,” said Alex Gorsky, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Johnson & Johnson. “Our work pushes for healthier societies and serves as a reminder that our job is not yet done. We must continue to raise the bar for ourselves and for the healthcare industry at large, so we can continue to earn our place in people’s hearts and minds everywhere.”

Among the 2017 highlights for India are the maintaining J&J’s commitment to eradicating and preventing disease including collaborating for a TB-free India. Company has been a partner to the Government of India for combating drug-resistant TB at every level. To date, the company has donated approximately 11,000 courses of bedaquiline, the first new TB treatment in nearly 50 years, as part of a Donation Program with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), its Compassionate Use Programs and a Conditional Access Program (CAP).

Beyond this, Johnson & Johnson has partnered at the central and state levels to ensure appropriate use of medications, training more than 4,000 health care workers on the clinical management of TB and multi-drug resistant- (MDR-) TB; provided around 35,000 X-ray tests and 20,000 molecular tests to improve access to diagnosis; and helped raised awareness about TB among nearly 11 million people at the community level.

Further, Johnson & Johnson is working closely with scientists from the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research’s Institute of Microbial Technology (CSIR-IMTECH), based in Chandigarh. The research and discovery program is aimed at exploring the development of next-generation treatment regimens to tackle multidrug-resistant TB, as well as new molecular entities to treat all TB patients.

Reflecting on the progress of initiatives in India, Sanjiv Navangul, Managing Director, Janssen, pharmaceutical division of Johnson & Johnson India said, “For over seventy years, India has been an important part of Johnson & Johnson’s efforts to ensure health for humanity around the world. We are driven by the belief that patients are waiting and there is no time to waste, and this report, which highlights the progress we have made over the last year, underlines our deep commitment to solving some of India’s greatest health challenges”.

J&J introduced GenH, a global social venture competition bringing ideas from more than 54 countries, harnessing the power of innovators and entrepreneurs to design locally-tailored and globally-relevant solutions for some of the world’s toughest health problems, and offering mentorship and financial prizes to the winners for establishing those ventures in countries such as India, Ghana, and Brazil.

The company achieved broad expansion of mMitra, a groundbreaking mobile-messaging program in India that sends vital health information to expectant and new moms living in low-income urban communities. The program has been cited by the World Health Organization and others as a global example of a scaled digital health program.

(The news is based on the press release by J&J)