Amway reiterates focus on addressing childhood malnutrition on World Health Day

• Hosts a national webinar focused on efforts to improve childhood malnutrition
• Amway India announces the launch of second phase of its globally renowned Power of 5 campaign with its NGO partner SRF Foundation

NEW DELHI, April 12, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Building on its global expertise in the nutrition and wellness domain, Amway India, one of the country's leading FMCG direct selling companies, celebrated World Health Day with a national webinar on building a better tomorrow with a focus on nutrition in children. Organized in association with its NGO partner SRF Foundation, the virtual platform brought together policy experts, subject-matter experts, and industry leaders to discuss current challenges and opportunities in improving nutrition and health amongst children, especially those under 5.

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As per the latest National Family Health Survey (NHFS), 18 of the 22 states and Union Territories (UTs) have recorded an alarming rise in the malnutrition condition of children under five. While each of the surveyed states and UTs reported 22 per cent or more stunted children, at least eight out of 342 surveyed districts registered more than 50 per cent prevalence of child stunting. Deliberating on such critical issues and the need to address inequities in access to health and nutrition, present at the conference were Ms Jyotika Kalra, Member, National Human Rights Commission, Mrs Rajbala Kataria, Joint Director, Women and Child Development Department, Haryana, Dr Sujeet Ranjan, Executive Director, The Coalition for Food and Nutrition Security (CFNS), Mr Ajay Khanna, Chief Marketing Officer, Amway India Enterprises Pvt. Ltd, Dr Sirimavo Nair, Professor in Foods and Nutrition, Faculty of Family and Community Sciences, The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, Mr Basant Kumar Dube, District Immunization and Child Health Officer, Nuh and Dr Y. Suresh Reddy, Director, SRF Foundation.

Speaking at the conference, Ajay Khanna, Chief Marketing Officer Amway India, said, "The WHO theme* of World Health Day 2021 of building a fairer, healthier world is a clarion call to strengthen action in the best possible way to make lives healthier and better for every child in the country.  Amway India is one of the foremost proponents of holistic nutrition and wellness.  With our vision of helping people live better, healthier lives, we endeavor to make a tangible societal impact through multiple social initiatives. Aligned with Government of India's National Nutrition Mission, Amway had introduced its globally acclaimed campaign, 'Power of 5' aimed to raise awareness on the issue of childhood malnutrition and bring in the much-needed behavioral shift among mothers and communities at large. Leveraging the success of our pilot project in Kirari village, New Delhi, we are launching the second phase of this project with SRF Foundation in Nuh district, Haryana. Under this two-year program, we intend to benefit over 51,000 people including 15,000 children in the age group of 0-8 years. I truly believe that with similar meaningful partnerships and collaborations, we can achieve the vision of a healthy India."

* World Health Day (who.int)

Commenting on the initiative, Dr. Y. Suresh Reddy, Director, SRF Foundation said, "Despite significant economic growth, India still bears an unacceptably high burden of malnourished children. We are focused on channeling our efforts to support and help as many children as we can. With this collaboration with Amway India, we have initiated the process of spreading awareness at the grassroots level regarding basic nutritional and hygiene practices. We are thankful to the team at Amway India for their unwavering support."

About Power of 5 Campaign

Amway launched its globally successful community-based program 'Power of 5' as a pilot in India in collaboration with MAMTA HIMC. The program is targeted at the mothers and caregivers of children under the age of 5 years and aimed to improve the nutritional knowledge and practices inclusive of complementary feeding, hygiene practices, growth monitoring and dietary diversity through extensive educational interventions. The campaign further aims to identify and manage the malnourished children, and those with infections, by developing synergies among the service providers of associated departments (Integrated Child Development Scheme, Health and Sanitation) for improved services and timely referrals. The Power of 5 programme has benefitted over 40,000 beneficiaries including children below 5 years, frontline workers, parents, caregivers and community members. Through various interventions such as training programmes, awareness sessions, nutrition education programmes, Amway and MAMTA HIMC have been raising awareness amongst families about malnutrition in children under the age of 5 years.

About Amway India CSR initiatives

• Amway India's CSR initiatives are based on the belief that social responsibility is much more than the incurrence of a cost or a resource or a charitable/ philanthropic act of social benefit. It is an opportunity to bring in social innovation and change. This belief is articulated in Amway's vision of helping people live better lives. When it comes to commitment to corporate citizenship, Amway India makes a serious and concentrated effort to reach out and help people improve their lives.
• Amway India supports a comprehensive CSR programme covering a gamut of initiatives including a water conservation project to improve the ground water level in 7 villages in the Dindigul district located around the manufacturing plant. Amway supports a village health program targeted at 26 villages in the Dindigul district, to provide quality healthcare to the underprivileged. The treatment includes general health check-up, select pathological tests and medicines at zero cost to the beneficiaries. In a span of over 20 months over 240 free health camps have been organised benefitting more than 50,000 people from local communities.
• Amway India set up a telemedicine centre in the Dindigul district to ensure a consistent healthcare support to the villagers. This program has eliminated distance barriers and improved access to medical services in distant rural communities. The centre aims at providing free medical treatment to over 7,000 patients in a year.
• Last year Amway India launched a Community Health & Entrepreneurship Program in the rural areas of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar to offer livelihood training in Entrepreneurship skills and business fundamentals with the objective to promote self-employment among women and to create awareness on affordable health and hygiene practices.
• Recently Amway India has launched the community-based nutrition education program to improve the nutritional status among children (below 5 years) in the select slum areas of West Delhi. The program focuses on prevention, early detection and improved access to care in line with the National Nutrition Mission, Govt. of India.
• As a key focus area, Amway has taken various initiatives to support the cause of visually impaired. Amway also supports underprivileged children in education, health and hygiene under a project titled 'Sunrise'. Under this project, Amway currently supports more than 15 NGOs across the country.
• Amway India has been conferred with the 'CSR Leadership Summit & Award' in the category of 'Promoting Employment for Specially-abled'.
• Amway India was also recently awarded with the 'Best Corporate' award in the 'Specially-abled' category at the prestigious National CSR Summit & Awards 2018 for its invaluable contribution towards the welfare of visually impaired by CSR Times.