Close on the heels of British medical journal ‘Lancet’ publishing a report recommending active engagement of private players to tackle the problem of malnutrition, the corporate sector in India is planning to introduce the “first-of its-kind knowledge initiative on malnutrition”.

The private players also plan to share “innovative products and services” to “tackle” the issue by organizing a conference in the national capital.
While private players want to tackle malnutrition under their corporate social responsibility (CSR) programmes, some experts working in the field have challenged the corporate sector’s participation in solving malnutrition problem.

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On Friday, Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Ltd and industry chamber Ficci will organise a conference on “Child Malnutrition: Sharing of Best Practices” in New Delhi. Experts from different fields are scheduled to speak on providing solutions to address issues relating to child malnutrition at the conference.

“Despite improvements in recent past, high rate of infant and child mortality still remains a grave area of concern in India. As an organisation, Glenmark has always realised that healthy children are the foundation of a healthy world,” said Cheryl Pinto, director (corporate affairs), Glenmark Pharmaceuticals.
The organisers also plan to come out with a knowledge paper on the best practices in combating child malnutrition after the conference.

Commenting on the private sector’s initiative to counter the problem of malnutrition in India, Dr Arun Gupta, a member of the prime minister’s national council on nutrition, said, “Tackling malnutrition is not a simple job. Private players are carefully collaborating (in) health and business through corporate social responsibility so that their business grows by launching new products and services.”

Dr Gupta, along with several other independent experts, had earlier objected to Lancet’s recommendations where the renowned journal had pitched for engagement of private players in furthering the fight against malnutrition. (Read an earlier report here)

According to national family health survey (NFHS) data, 46 percent of Indian children below three years are underweight, while 38 percent are stunted.
Among those scheduled to address Friday’s conference are Dr Rakesh Kumar and Sujaya Krishnan, both joint secretaries in the ministry of health & family welfare, government of India; Cheryl Pinto, director (corporate affairs), Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Limited; Dr Ashish Satav, founder, Mahan Trust; Dr Sachin Gupta, USAID’s India child health specialist; Chinmay Sengupta, CEO, ICICI Foundation; and Prakash Michael of the Spandan Samaj Sewa Samiti.