Healthy Workplace Program initiative launched by Arogya World in India

In a pioneering public health effort, Arogya World, a US-based non-profit organization with a domestic presence in Bengaluru, recently unveiled new Healthy Workplace Criteria as the first step of its Healthy Workplace program.

Jointly developed by Arogya World and the Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI), after intense deliberations and prior multi-stakeholder consultations with the IT sector, allied organizations and medical experts at a Bengaluru workshop organized by Arogya World in February 2012; these criteria will promote workplace wellness, help reduce the burden of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs), and offer companies a competitive edge via increased talent retention and higher productivity.

The Healthy Workplace Criteria were launched to mark two important milestones this month: the World Economic Forum Summit on India (6-8 November 2012), which has NCDs on its agenda, and World Diabetes Day (14 November).

At the launch event, besides highlighting the Healthy Workplace Criteria, key stakeholders deliberated on ‘The RoI from a Healthy Workplace', at a high-profile interactive session moderated by Ashok Malik. The panelists included Dr Sailesh Mohan, senior research scientist, PHFI; Avinash Vashistha, chairman, Accenture; Dr Balaji S Lakshmipuram, occupational physician, IBM; Ravi Mani, senior VP, organizational excellence, iGate; Dr Nalini Saligram, founder & CEO, Arogya World, and the chief guest, Keshav Desiraju, Special Secretary, Health, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. Also present were representatives from organizations such as TiE, World Economic Forum, WHO, Cisco, Aetna and others.

Speaking at the launch event, Keshav Desiraju, special secretary, Health, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare affirmed: "India is committed to reducing the burden of NCDs, which cause 50% of all deaths in our country. As people spend half their waking hours at work, it is important to increase health consciousness at the workplace. I am pleased that workplaces are being used in innovative ‘whole of society' approaches to combat NCDs."

Conveying his support for the Healthy Workplace initiative, Prof K Srinath Reddy, president, PHFI, said: "India is hard hit by NCDs, with around 20% people harboring at least one chronic disease and 10% having more than one. Against this backdrop, workplace wellness efforts like this one, if scaled up, could play a crucial role in effecting a positive public health outcome."

"NCDs are one of the greatest health and development challenges of the century. While it is expected that NCDs will be responsible for an accumulative global output loss of $47 tn in the next 30 years, there is a strong business case for the effectiveness of workplace programs, including a return on investment of $3-4 for every $1 spent", said Dr Eva Jane-Llopis, head, health programs, World Economic Forum.

 As part of this program, 16-week lifestyle coach-led diabetes prevention sessions in Healthy Workplaces and integration with mHealth programs, such as Arogya World's mDiabetes, are also planned. The initial focus for the Healthy Workplace program will be the IT/software industry.

Significantly, the WHO emphasizes that approximately 80% of heart disease and diabetes and 40% of cancers can be prevented through healthy lifestyles such as avoiding tobacco use, eating healthy foods and increasing daily physical activity. This is at the core of all of Arogya World's work.