The conference was organised by ASSOCHAM in association with Hindustan Unilever
Coronavirus has changed our lives for a long time to come and it is here to stay but the one good thing that has helped us Indians is that we have better immunity than several other countries in the world, said Ashwini Kumar Choubey, Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare and Chief Guest at the ASSOCHAM organised Web Conference on Relevance and importance of Health and Wellness in COVID-19.
Speaking at the start of the session the Choubey said, “I am very happy that ASSOCHAM has organised a discussion on such a crucial issue of COVID-19. With so many eminent personalities I am sure new innovative ideas will come up and this will help us take our fight forward against this deadly pandemic. All we can say that we Indians have a better immunity than many other places and this is helping us. India is fighting very strongly, responsibly and jointly under the able leadership of our eminent PM. Now we are under the unlocking phase and we have to take ourselves out of it responsibly or all the efforts may go in vain.”
Speaking at the occasion Dr Niranjan Hiranandani, President, ASSOCHAM said, “As we continue to make efforts to emerge from the shadow of this disease and weeks of lockdown, it is clear what was ‘normal’ before, may not be ‘normal’ in the future, and that COVID-19 has reshaped the way we will live our lives for the foreseeable future. We are still at a very crucial phase. But we know that while specific treatment is not yet coming soon, focus on health and wellness is crucial in these difficult times. The individual preventive and protective measures like social distancing, hand washing, good sleep, regular exercise and nutrition (macro and micro) drive away the personal risk of getting the disease. We can’t spread this message enough and must continue with our efforts of making correct and relevant COVID related information available to our communities.”
Other key speakers at the webinar included Rehan Khan, MD, MSD India, Arun Mishra, Head, Global Nutrition Regulatory Affairs, Hindustan Unilever, Sudhir Sitapati, Executive Director and VP Foods & Refreshment, Hindustan Unilever and Deepak Sood, Secretary General, ASSOCHAM.
Sitapati emphasised on the need for better focus on hygiene and sanitation to fight Corona better. “Hand washing with soap is one of the most effective ways to fight the virus and to carry on this fight Hindustan Unilever as the leader in the soap market has donated over two crore units of Lifebuoy soap and hand sanitisers to various COVID hospitals across the country. COVID also has had a huge economic impact and migrant labourers are amongst the most impacted. Early in the fight against Coronavirus, we decided on pay protection for three months for all workers either on our payrolls or third-party labourers who are 100 per cent associated with us. We believe that the affirmative actions we have taken have played a positive role in promoting health and wellness in homes and among migrant workers during this time of pandemic”.
Sood said,” At ASSOCHAM, we keep raising issues that are relevant, urgent and needs to be highlighted. This online three-part series on ‘Relevance and Importance of Health & Wellness in COVID-19’ is another such effort and I must thank Hindustan Unilever for partnering with us to host this. The three part web conference beginning today will continue on June 6 and June 10 respectively focussing on a range of issues around the virus, disease, possible treatments (current / future), nutrition, boosting immunity through natural products against infection, ayurvedic practices, wellness (physical / mental), integrated medicine approach etc. and we will have the extraordinary opportunity of listening to so many luminaries from various walks of life on one platform.”