Coca-Cola Nigeria Ltd has emerged the best company in the Good Health and Well-being category at the 12th edition of the Sustainability, Enterprise and Responsibility Awards (SERAs).
The Company was adjudged the best in the health category as a result of the impact of its ‘Safe Birth Initiative’ (SBI) that aims to tackle the high rate of maternal and newborn deaths in Nigeria.
SBI is carried out in partnership with the Federal Ministry of Health, the Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Sustainable Development Goals and an NGO, Medshare International Inc.
It is focused on supporting doctors and nurses to achieve successful birth outcomes, by strengthening the capacity of selected public hospitals in three critical areas.
These areas included: procurement of maternal and neonatal medical equipment and supplies to enable safe deliveries and post-delivery emergency care; training biomedical engineering technicians to improve equipment maintenance and uptime; as well as reactivation of abandoned medical equipment wasting away in public hospitals.
Receiving the award, the firm’s Public Affairs and Communications Manager, Nwamaka Onyemelukwe, said: “Awards like this encourage us to do more and strengthen our efforts to provide solutions to the various challenges facing the communities in which we serve.
“We thank our project partners and dedicate this award to the brave medical professionals in hospitals across Nigeria who work tirelessly to ensure that mothers and their babies go back home alive.”
The first phase of the programme is currently under implementation and will provide 15 major public hospitals recommended by the Federal Ministry of Health with hospital equipment, kits and supplies with a total conservative value of about $10.8 million.
The initiative is expected to ultimately improve the affordability and accessibility of maternity health care services in the beneficiary hospitals.