Corporate Societal Engagement (CSE)
Corporate Responsibility
Working on Behalf of a Better Life
At Bayer, we believe it is important to contribute to society’s future viability and create value in diverse ways. Within the scope of our social commitment, we make targeted strategic investments in the areas of science and education, health, social needs and community projects. This commitment is an integral element of Bayer’s corporate policy.
In 2020, Bayer made available financial aid of around 57 million Euros worldwide to further charitable projects and activities in the areas of research and education, social innovation in health and nutrition, and support for the communities near our sites. As with its business operations, Bayer’s social commitment is based on innovation and pioneering spirit.
In Pakistan, our Corporate Societal Engagement (CSE) initiatives focus on health, education and access to water, in line with Bayer’s global objectives, and the company’s commitment to supporting the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs).
We partner with reputed NGOs and non-profit organizations making a significant contribution in their respective sectors in Pakistan, to support initiatives carried out by them. In doing so, Bayer Pakistan is able to invest in initiatives and projects that promote a gradual but sustainable improvement in standards of healthcare and education in Pakistan. After all, this is our purpose: Science for a better life.
CSE Initiatives 2021
Consulting Clinic Sponsored by Bayer
One of the first things Bayer Pakistan did was support a consulting clinic in the Indus Hospital expansion project in Korangi, Karachi. The project is currently under construction and is scheduled for completion by 2026.
Blood Donation Drives
In the recent past, Bayer Pakistan has continued to contribute toward Indus Hospital’s efforts in different ways. For example, we have held multiple blood donation drives at our premises for Indus Hospital & Health Network.
Supporting Frontline Healthcare Workers
At the onset of COVID-19 in 2020, Bayer’s Consumer Health division donated 300 packs each of Redoxon and Bepanthanol to IHHN. These are self-care products that help enhance immunity levels (Redoxon) and combat dryness of the skin easily caused by excessive washing of hands, frequent use of hand sanitizer and the compression from PPE’s (Bepanthol). This gesture was in the spirit of emphasizing to front line health workers that as they continue to look after patients, especially in these trying times, their own well-being should come first and be prioritized also.
Urgent Financial Support for COVID-19 Patients
With the COVID situation being as we all know it, Bayer was at the forefront of providing financial support for IHHN’s COVID ward and emergency-care facilities in July 2021.
For critically ill COVID-19 patients who are being managed at the ICU at IHHN, this financial support will help cover costs per day for treatment of 125 such patients. In line with our vision, Health for All, Hunger for None, we at Bayer Pakistan are forever committed to lend a helping hand whenever and wherever possible.
ABOUT IHHN
The Indus Health Network provides absolutely free, quality treatment to millions of deserving patients through its countrywide network of hospitals in Pakistan. Indus Health Network is a respected and reputed player in the healthcare sector in Pakistan with a strong track record of running innovative and effective healthcare interventions for an under-served public.
Bayer Pakistan has partnered with The Citizens
Foundation (TCF) to support their Aagahi Adult Literacy Program since 2014.
Aagahi means ‘creating awareness’ in the Urdu language. The Aagahi Adult Literacy Program run by TCF aims to impart non-formal literacy, numeracy and other basic skills to TCF students’ mothers, sisters and other out-of-school women and girls between the ages of 12 and 65 years old. These literacy classes provide a two-fold benefit: improvement in TCF student performance by strengthening the home-school connection, and enhancing literacy in the community by enabling adult women to actively and independently contribute towards the running of their homes and communities.
The program involves a 4-month long course on reading and writing, basic math, along with the fundamentals of budgeting and health and hygiene. By the end of the course, the learner becomes more aware of her own potential, more adept at navigating and engaging with the surrounding environment, and more confident of her role within the community and family.
Bayer Pakistan has been supporting TCF since 2014 by providing funding for the running of approximately 25% of Aagahi Adult Literacy Centers. By 2020, we were reaching out to between 18,000–22,000 women annually in rural and urban villages and slums across 68 cities and towns in Pakistan.
Bayer’s support enables the running and management of 1,450 centers reaching out to 29,000 learners with the opportunity to become literate. Assuming one learner per household, of an assumed household strength of 7 people, a total of around 203,000 individuals are expected to benefit directly and indirectly via this initiative.
Since inception:
Total learners to date: 112,000
Indirect benefit to: 784,000 individuals
ABOUT TCF
Set up in 1996 by a group of concerned citizens, TCF is one of the leading non-profit organizations operating in the education sector in Pakistan, providing low-cost formal education to the underserved, without discrimination
Pakistan is among the top 10 countries most affected by climate change (according to the 2018 Global Climate Risk Index), and is on track to become the most water-stressed country in the region by 2040 (according to The World Resources Institute).
Bayer Pakistan has partnered with Tayaba Organization in their drive to alleviate the suffering of water-scarce communities in Pakistan, joining hands with the NGO to provide 2,000 H2O (Help-2-Others) Water Wheels to water-scarce communities in Sindh and Punjab, directly impacting 14,000 people and indirectly impacting many more.
H2O wheels are specially designed 40-litre drum containers with handles which enable people to roll water from its source rather than carry it on their heads the traditional way: in terracotta pots which are not only heavy, but have a limited capacity as well
Endorsed by Pakistan’s Water Ministry, the project offers not only hygienic transportation but also hygienic storage for water and will help reduce the incidence of disease. It will also alleviate the physical burden on women and children of lifting heavy loads, thereby reducing injury. Water Wheels are easy to transport, and offer an immediate and long-lasting solution to the otherwise inconvenient, dangerous and time-consuming practice of women and children carrying heavy containers of water over long distances, sometimes multiple times a day. In addition to drastically reducing the risk of injury and health related issues for women and children, they also help free up time to utilize elsewhere, such as for education purposes. The H2O wheels also help improve access to sanitation and hygiene.
We are thus playing our part directly and indirectly in improving water accessibility, reducing health related risks, providing empowerment and countering gender inequality in such areas.
ABOUT TAYABA ORG
Founded in 2016, the organization headed by two brothers aims to counter the problems faced due to not just water scarcity but also non-existent or poor infrastructure for water. They offer an intervention model by the name of H2O Water Wheels, which are barrels that can hold water, and instead of being carried around with difficulty, they can easily be rolled around for transportation. To date they have distributed around 6,500 of these Water Wheels, and their aim is to cross a total of 100,000.
In 2020, Bayer Pakistan partnered with The Kidney Centre (TKC) to fund the running cost of TKC’s Free Filter Clinic, which is open to underprivileged patients entirely free of cost, Monday to Friday every week. TKC Senior Medical Officers in rotation examine patients at this clinic and conduct all necessary investigations, and patients are referred onward to consultants for further investigations as required.
During 2020, despite the impact of COVID-19 and the subsequent closure of many clinics and OPDs across the country, almost 14,000 patients were screened through the Free Filter Clinic with Bayer Pakistan’s support (almost 1,200 patients monthly).
Bayer Pakistan has supported TKC since 2013 with a wide range of initiatives, including facility expansions, and machinery and equipment costs, thus supporting access to quality healthcare, in line with UN’s sustainability goal of good health and well-being.
ABOUT TKC
TKC is a not-for-profit specialized hospital providing quality care to patients suffering from kidney disease. It provides comprehensive quality renal care to patients suffering from kidney and bladder problems, with 100 in-patient beds, four operating theatres, and intensive care unit (with ventilators) for both adults and paediatrics, and a full range of Urological, Nephrological and transplant services.