Accenture announces several Covid-19 Care initiatives for India

As India continues to battle the COVID-19 pandemic, organizations have been extending a helping hand to support their employees and the community at large. “Accenture stands in solidarity with India. We have made a fresh pledge of USD 25M (~INR 185 crore) for pandemic relief efforts in addition to ongoing investments in our people and communities. To support our more than 200,000 people and their families in India, we have built several resources including 24/7 telemedicine, care-at-home services, enhanced insurance coverage, virtual childcare, mental health support, and support for testing and vaccinations. We have also created leave options for CareGivers. Our teams continue to work around the clock to find additional ways to support our people.” said Rekha M. Menon, Chairperson and Senior Managing Director, Accenture in India in a LinkedIn post.

People initiatives

Accenture is prioritizing the safety and well-being of its people in India. Its resources include a 24*7 helpline for its people and their families for emergency and medical assistance. It also made available a COVID-19 emergency guide, with regularly updated information on the nearest COVID-19 testing centres, hospitals treating COVID-19 patients, emergency government helplines, inter-state travel and quarantine guidance and Accenture’s healthcare resources.

The company offers 24/7 doctor teleconsultation for its people and their families. It has Home Care Services for those who have tested positive for COVID-19 and are quarantined at home with mild symptoms. The assistance package includes medical care and advisory services for the 14-day quarantine period. It also includes daily remote nursing support for vitals monitoring, consultations with physicians, dieticians and psychologists and home isolation kits. It is also enabling critical care support for its people or their family members by delivering oxygen concentrators to its people’s homes.

Accenture has partnered with health care providers to offer quarantine rooms in hospital-managed hotels in seven cities across India, for its people and family members who may not have the environment at home to quarantine themselves safely.

Mental Health awareness

Experts say that it is natural for people to experience fear, anxiety, stress, grief and isolation and as a result, mental wellbeing is as critical as physical wellbeing in the current circumstances. Besides a 24/7 mental wellness helpline for its people and their families, Accenture regularly hosts ‘Ask Away’ sessions with eminent doctors and experts to provide accurate information and medical advice and has introduced group counselling and grief counselling sessions.

Accenture has introduced leave options for its people to take care of their family members who have tested positive for COVID-19. In addition, Accenture’s people have come together in several ways to help their colleagues impacted by the pandemic. Accenture employees are involved in running a Covid-19 helpline for their colleagues and are also contributing to validating publicly available essential information such as hospitals with available ICU beds or Oxygen suppliers. Additionally, an employee giving program enables Accenture people to provide financial help to the families of colleagues who have lost their lives.

Community Initiatives

Accenture has pledged USD 25M (~INR 185 crore) for pandemic relief efforts in India and ongoing investments in its people and communities.

In her LinkedIn post, Rekha Menon said, “The local and global efforts already underway include providing ventilators, oxygen concentrators, and medical kits. We provide COVID-19 support kits and PPE kits to frontline healthcare workers and provide food and COVID-19 at-home care kits to the economically disadvantaged. The company is also engaging with the government to support vaccination camps and provide local language call-centre support. Some of its additional efforts include augmenting existing hospitals with beds and ICUs and setting up portable hospitals.”

The company sees equal involvement from its people locally and the world over who have expressed their willingness to contribute funds with the company matching 100% of its people’s contributions for COVID-19 relief efforts. Accenture is also part of the steering committee of the Global Task Force on Pandemic Response, a US-based public-private partnership organized by the US Chamber of Commerce and supported by Business Roundtable to mobilize and deliver resources to assist COVID-19 efforts in India.