SriLankan Cares wins ARE Award
View(s):SriLankan Cares, the community development arm of SriLankan Airlines, was recently awarded with the Corporate Social Responsibility Health Promotion Award for the ‘Impactful Healthcare’ at Asia Responsible Entrepreneurship (ARE) Awards 2014 held in New Delhi recently.
SriLankan Cares said it has been seeking ways to enhance and develop child welfare since its inception in 2003. Touching the lives of thousands of children through a staggering number of social services, SriLankan Cares has been actively engaged in child healthcare projects that intend to transform the lives of children across the country. The award highlighted their continuous efforts at uplifting the lives of the communities in need. The award was claimed specially for their efforts in 2013 where they ventured on major projects that aimed to uplift child healthcare around the country.
“Dedicating 2013 specifically for child healthcare, the projects carried out by SriLankan Cares specifically focused on reducing child mortality, improving maternal health and other social concerns such as disability and heart diseases,” the airline’s media statement said.
Identifying child mental health as an area that needs to be given extra attention, SriLankan Cares sketched the initial blueprints for a Multi-Disciplinary Child Psychiatry Ward in 2013 with the signing of a MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) between SriLankan Cares and Ministry of Health. A total of Rs. 8 million was invested on the project, marking the first instance where a corporate entity of Sri Lanka initiated a project of this magnitude in developing child mental health.
“Endeavouring to create a better life for children with heart defects, SriLankan Cares also facilitated the visits of two separate paediatric cardiac teams from Southampton University Hospital, UK. This was part of an exchange programme where visiting cardiologists and cardiothoracic surgeons shared their professional expertise and acumen with local medical staff,” the company said.