Ranbaxy Laboratories and Daiichi Sankyo Company announced their joint community initiatives in India with the Flag-off of two free mobile rural healthcare service vans for District Dewas in Madhya Pradesh. This is the first CSR programme being undertaken jointly by the two companies as part of their commitment towards global social contribution activities.

This initiative will be implemented through “Ranbaxy Community Health Care Society” (RCHS), a non-profit organization established by Ranbaxy. RCHS is already running mobile healthcare services in District Dewas. The two new mobile healthcare service vans extend the reach and further reinforce and strengthen the medical services being provided in the region.

MC Gupta, district collector of Dewas, said, “I would like to commend and congratulate Ranbaxy and Daiichi for taking the initiative to supplement the efforts of the Government in providing better healthcare support, particularly to our rural population and the less advantaged. Mothers and Children are the building blocks of society and there is a crying need to ensure that the healthcare need of this vulnerable group are adequately met.”

Dr Tsutomu Une, chairman, Ranbaxy, said, “Ranbaxy and Daiichi Sankyo are committed globally to the goal of delivering trusted medicines for healthier lives. India is an important zone for Daiichi Sankyo and we are very pleased to dedicate our first joint CSR initiative in the country. Our focus will be on reducing child mortality and improving maternal health, objectives, which are cl;early aligned with the UN Millennium Development Goals.”

Arun Sawhney, CEO and managing director, Ranbaxy, said, “Dewas has been an important manufacturing centre for Ranbaxy for almost three decades. We remain strongly committed to the region and would like to give back to the society we operate in. The two new vans, will augment our efforts in the district and focus on bringing down infant mortality rates and improving maternal healthcare, which are priority concerns for the region.”