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| Home » Interview » Onkar S. Kanwar |
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INTERVIEW - Mr. Onkar S.
Kanwar, CEO, Apollo Tyres |
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| "Private Sector has a Major Stake" |
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| How/what do you feel about the gravity
of HIV/AIDS epidemic in India? |
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| The incidence of AIDS in India is steadily rising amidst concerns
that the nation faces the prospect of an AIDS epidemic. |
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| The main factors cited in the spread of the virus are heterosexual
transmission, the use of unsterilized needles and syringes by
physicians and intravenous drug users; and transfusion of blood
from infected donors. |
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| Fear and ignorance have continued to compound the difficulty
of controlling the spread of the virus, and discrimination against
people living with HIV/AIDS continues. |
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| How do you see the future of India in the
context of an expanding epidemic? |
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| So far, although HIV-related deaths are at a small number
compared to other infectious diseases, an unknown number of
undetected cases exist throughout the country. |
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| If unchecked immediately, this could spell disaster for the
nation's development; draining its human resources and diminishing
the GDP. |
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| What do you think needs to be done expeditiously? |
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| Communication continues to be one of the most important strategies
in the fight against HIV/AIDS. In the absence of a vaccine or
a cure, prevention is the most effective strategy for the control
of HIV/AIDS. In India , the majority of the population is still
uninfected. It, therefore, becomes imperative to continue intensive
communication efforts that will not only raise awareness levels
but also bring out behaviour change. |
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| Information, Education and Communication is a process that
informs, motivates and helps people to adopt and maintain healthy
practices and life skills. It aims at empowering individuals
and enabling them to make correct decisions about safe behaviour
practices. IEC also attempts to create an environment, which
is conducive, and supports access to treatment and services
for those already infected. |
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| What role can the private/corporate sector
play to help fight the HIV/AIDS epidemic? |
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| The private sector can play a pivotal role in helping government
authorities implement various prevention and education programmes. |
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| It is difficult for NGOs and quasi-government bodies to mobilize
adequate funds and resources for spreading awareness about HIV/AIDS.
The corporate sector, with its huge reach and communication
expertise, can wisely utilize its distribution/ marketing network
to act as conduits for social awareness programmes and initiatives. |
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| Are Indian companies demonstrating sufficient
Corporate Social Responsibility [CSR] in HIV/AIDS? |
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| The private sector has taken up the responsibility and is
working with NACO (National AIDS Control Organisation) towards
containing the epidemic in India. Various companies have infused
funds and donations into AIDS research, infrastructure for modern
testing facilities etc. However, a lot more remains to be done. |
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| Has your organisation undertaken any HIV-related
initiative. If yes, could you please elaborate? |
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| To combat HIV/AIDS, Apollo Tyres, in an active collaboration
with DFID (implemented through 36 NGO's), launched the Apollo
Tyres Health Care Centre in October 2000 to provide general
and sexual health services for truckers and the transport community
at large. The Centre provides |
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(i) STD diagnosis and treatment
(ii) Behavior Change Communication
(iii) Condom Promotion |
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| The Centre has its operations at the Sanjay Gandhi Transport
Nagar (New Delhi), off the GT-Karnal highway, and has today
expanded its scope to general health treatment besides STD prevention.
The inception of the clinic was the logical fallout of the company's
welfare policy and strong sense of social responsibility in
an effort to continue earning the goodwill of their associates
in the transport sector. |
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| Through consistent counseling and educational programs the
Centre, through its dedicated teams of volunteers, enlightens
the truckers on the numerous risks involved and the methods
of prevention. The patients are treated on nominal charges and
the more serious cases are often referred to larger hospitals. |
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| Besides taking initiatives on educating and informing about
HIV and AIDS to truckers, the approach team has also helped
various sex workers rehabilitate and lead normal lives. With
this initiative Apollo has thus pioneered the way to corporate
health care and sexual health services to the transport sector.
It has paved the way for future endeavors to achieving holistic
health care at the micro level. We plan to have a network of
such facilities across the highways of the country to be able
to reach out to as many drivers as possible. |
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| Besides working on the mission to educate truckers about AIDS,
Apollo Tyres also extends its full support to 'Umeed', a Non
Governmental Organization (NGO), working towards providing health
and medical care facilities to the underprivileged in rural
areas. All of Umeed's vehicles ride on Apollo tyres donated
free of cost every year. |
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| The company has a policy of discharging its social responsibilities
in areas in which we can make a significant difference. Hence
the choice of AIDS care for truckers, which is an area where
our regular business takes place, and supporting Umeed in rural
areas, again an area where we are able to provide our infrastructure
for effective reach of men and materials. |
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| Do you have any immediate plans on HIV-related
work? |
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| We plan to work in collaboration with Umeed and take the activities
to the interiors of the country. We are always open to other
such relationships where we think our contribution would make
a difference. |
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| We currently do not look at these initiatives as any part
of our financial or marketing strategy but rather an opportunity
to get closer to our stakeholders in a beneficial way. |
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| In your opinion, what can public-private
partnership do to halt and reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS? |
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| The biggest role of private-public partnerships would be to
reach out to the illiterate and to those who are most vulnerable
to HIV/AIDS. In this, our States should learn the right lessons
from one another and also from other countries on what works
and what does not. We should especially emphasize that AIDS
control is not only about safe sex and use of condoms. It is
also about making necessary changes in one's lifestyle so that
one is responsible and caring to oneself, to one's family, and
to the community at large. |
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| To effect such positive changes in attitude and behaviour
, we should also mobilise indigenous Indian sources of moral
authority. Which means that religious and social leaders should
become far more active in AIDS campaign than has been the case
so far. We should also activate trade unionists, school and
college teachers, and, if necessary, the humble postman to carry
the message of prevention being the only cure. |
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About
Onkar S. Kanwar |
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