Syngenta India, a leading agriculture company dedicated a state-of-the-art CT Scan center in Ambah Civil Hospital for the people of Morena district in Madhya Pradesh. Minister of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare, Narendra Singh Tomar inaugurated the centre which has been built at a cost of over INR 2 crore to arrest the rising cases of Covid-19 in one of the worst affected districts of Madhya Pradesh Tuesday. This diagnostic facility will cater to 815 villages in the worst affected areas of the district. Every day, around 800 patients walk into Civil Hospital to get treatment.
Rafael Del Rio, Managing Director, Syngenta India, said, “It has been a humbling experience for Syngenta to partner with the government in strengthening the health infrastructure in the country to combat the grave and unprecedented Covid crisis. We hope that this facility will help in early detection and treatment of the rising Covid cases in and around Morena district. This will not only help tide over the immediate situation but also build a lasting asset for other diagnostic purposes in future to improve the health of rural communities.”
Complementing Syngenta on building the facility in record time, Narendra Singh Tomar said, “Morena district has been among the worst impacted by Covid and this major intervention will help many villagers who had to travel far distances and sometimes to neighboring states for screening purposes. I do hope that more corporates would come forward like Syngenta to help tide over the grave situation facing the country and support medical infrastructure.”
Further elaborating on the initiative, Dr. KC Ravi, Chief Sustainability Officer, Syngenta India, said, “We realised that there were areas where the Covid cases were increasing at an alarming rate due to lack of diagnostic equipment in the country. In fact, after oxygen, the most important requirement were equipment like CT scanner for timely detection and treatment of Covid. Since time was of essence, we immediately agreed to the request of the district administration and airlifted the equipment from Japan as the lead time for the equipment was a minimum of four to six months. I am delighted that we have been able to erect this center in a record time of 45 days.
Speaking on the occasion, Bakki Kartikeyan, District Collector, Morena thanked Syngenta and said, “Syngenta immediately accepted the request to provide the CT scan machine. This facility will not only help in arresting the cases of Covid now but also help the people of the district to access the best diagnosis for various other diseases that would help them lead healthy lives in future.”
Addressing the gathering, Jon Parr, President, Global Crop Protection, Syngenta AG, said, “Given our commitment to the growers’ community in India, Syngenta continues to put a greater emphasis on awareness, health, hygiene and strengthening the rural health infrastructure in these unprecedented times caused by the Covid crisis. Syngenta will continue to support the growers and rural communities of India and all over the world.”
Dr AD Sharma, District Medical Health Officer, Morena, thanked Syngenta and mentioned that this CT scan machine would help detect bone and joint problems, cancer, heart disease, liver problems, internal injuries, and bleeding among others. CT scan can spot fractures and tumours which help doctors plan medical surgical or radiation treatment.
Syngenta has also been helping rural hospitals and community health centers around the country with 2500 medical beds, mattresses, and pillows, oxygen concentrators besides masks, gloves, sanitisers in the second phase of Covid. Syngenta has been continuously working to provide hygienic environment for the farmers across India through the I CLEAN (Inculcating Cleanliness, Learning, Education, Awareness and New Habits) initiative of building modern vegetable mandis. These mandis in remote corners are especially helping during these challenging Covid times by providing clean sheds, adequate distancing, raised platforms, drinking water facilities, solar lighting and toilet blocks. In Madhya Pradesh, it has handed over 100 medical beds to the district hospital in Harda. It is also closely working with farmers in Dhar and Khargaon region of Madhya Pradesh through another flagship CSR intervention in the form of I-SAFE (Inculcating Safety Awareness for Farmers Empowerment).
