Experts Push For CSR-Funded Health Awareness Drives

New Delhi: Health experts and industry leaders have stressed the urgent need for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) to play a larger role in addressing India’s growing healthcare challenges.

With rising cases of lifestyle diseases like diabetes, hypertension and obesity, experts believe that CSR funding must be channelled into large-scale awareness programmes to help people make informed health choices. At the Healthcare CSR Catalyst Stakeholders Meet 2025 held recently, doctors, corporate representatives and policymakers came together to discuss how CSR can bridge critical healthcare gaps. They emphasised that while companies invest significant CSR funds in healthcare, a large portion is often spent on infrastructure, leaving health literacy and preventive care neglected.

Dr H K Chopra, Chief Cardiologist, Medanta Moolchand Heart Institute, New Delhi, warned of India’s rising burden of lifestyle diseases, stating, “India is fast becoming the global capital of diabetes and hypertension.” “Nearly 40 per cent of patients are hypertensive and 90 per cent of them have uncontrolled blood pressure,” Dr Chopra said.