Jaslok Hospital partners with BEST to raise awareness on Vitamin D deficiency

Jaslok Hospital and Research Centre is collaborating with BEST Association to drive a medical campaign to raise awareness about the benefits of Vitamin D. Through this campaign, the two institutions aim to address the issue of Vitamin D deficiency amongst the BEST employees and their kin.

This campaign aims to reach out to close to 20,000 BEST employees and kin, thus will probably also be the largest campaign planned in the city around benefits of Vitamin D.

Speaking about this activity, George Alex, Chief Marketing Officer, Jaslok Hospital, said, “There is lot of awareness around fitness and wellbeing, but critical elements like Vitamin deficiency is not well addressed. Vitamin D plays a critical role in the human body and it is important that we educate patron in the city about the perils of vitamin D deficiency. We are delighted that BEST has come forward to partner with us, for the wellbeing of their employees. This campaign will not only benefit BEST, but also help create a ripple effect across the city as people engage in conversations around the perks of healthy lifestyle.”

Adding to it, Anil Patankar, Chairman, BEST said, “As an association in public service, we need to ensure the wellbeing of our employees. Our association with Jaslok helped us know how important Vitamin D is for our body, and we decided to run this campaign to monitor the deficiency of vitamin D and provide them with free consultation and medication so that they are aware about the benefits of Vitamin D in our body and also promote the idea of adopting a healthy lifestyle.”

This camp will be a month-long initiative which will be carried out in the phase-wise manner across key locations for BEST employees. The medical camp will include blood tests, provide free Vitamin D supplements for a month along with a consultation on importance of Vitamin D.

In addition to it, Jaslok Hospital & Research Centre recently participated in the Mumbai Marathon-2020 to support their social initiative for children with intellectual disability. Team from Jaslok participated in different races at the marathon, wearing jerseys that proclaimed the run mission – #ChooseToInclude.

The oldest non-profit working in this space, Jaivakeel Foundation and Research Centre (Jaivakeel) has shifted their lens from care to discovery of potential, thereby leading to the ultimate aim of inclusion and acceptance. A platform such as the Mumbai Marathon connects with all the patrons of the city, thus Jaslok hospital took the initiative to participate in this event and promote Jaivakeel’s vision – to create sensitivity and positive acceptance for ID children in the society.

Speaking on this, Archana Chandra, CEO, Jaivakeel, said, “Within the disabilities space, ID seems to be the most invisible. Children with disabilities are one of the most marginalised and excluded groups of children, experiencing widespread violations of their rights. Jai Vakeel Foundation has been working in this space for over 75 years, reaching out to lakhs of such children, most of whom are born to the poorest families in the country. As we celebrate our platinum anniversary, we took several such steps to spread awareness about the cause and the power of inclusion– from on-ground events to digital campaigns. We found further support from Jaslok Hospital who are advocating our mission of reaching all the ID children in this country.”

In addition to Jaivakeel Foundation, Jaslok Hospital also extended support to another social organisation, Bal Asha which is an institution providing shelter and care to orphan children. Team Jaslok supported these organisations with #JaslokforJaiVakeel and #JaslokForBalAsha, slogans on their jersey.

Talking about this initiative, Kanta Masand, Chairperson, Jaslok Hospital & Research Centre, said, “Bal Asha is a safe haven for orphan and abandoned children in Mumbai and we focus not only to provide shelter, but also help them with education and basic healthcare support. In fact, six students from Bal Asha study at Jaivakeel. Jaslok Hospital has always been one of our support and we are delighted to have them represent us at the marathon, because it will help create awareness of our work and help like-minded people and corporate to come forward and support our endeavour.”