Johnson and Johnson 2009 Annual Report Download - page 23

JOHNSON & JOHNSON 2009 ANNUAL REPORT 21
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Through the program Children Without
Worms, Fernanda has learned ways to
prevent infection with STH. She reminds
her mother to chlorinate the water and
runs after brother Luis, , to scrub his
hands with soap. When Luis drops his
mango, Fernanda washes it with treated
water before he takes another bite.
“Fernanda’s physically healthier, and
she’s more knowledgeable, so she doesn’t
reinfect herself,” says her mother,
Grissell. When her children are
worm-free, she laughs, “They’re active,
they eat a lot, they don’t stop!”
When Fernanda of Jinotepe, Nicaragua,
gets intestinal worms, the athletic fourth
grader who plays several sports feels listless.
“I have a stomach ache. I feel really tired.
I don’t want to eat,” says Fernanda,, who
misses school days. “Sometimes I vomit.”
Fernanda is one of million children
worldwide under age  at risk of infection
with soil-transmitted helminths, or STH:
roundworms, whipworms and hookworms.
Found mostly in tropical and subtropical
areas, STH is caused by a lack of clean
water and sanitation. Intestinal worms are
especially harmful to children because
they lead to malnutrition, anemia, stunted
growth, impaired cognitive development
and poor school attendance and
performance.
But Fernanda’s school participates in
Children Without Worms (CWW), a
program that provides a deworming
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
medication, mebendazole, donated by
Johnson & Johnson. Approximately
 million of the world’s most at-risk
children are treated, representing the
largest health care company donation
targeting STH. CWW was created in 
Himachal Pradesh. The water
management eorts he oversees
include a zero-discharge wastewater
treatment facility—every drop of
treated water is reused for irrigation
and toilet ushing.
Rain harvesting began in . Water is
collected from the rooftop and recharged
to the ground using a harvest pit. “The
huge amount of water during monsoon
season was going directly to the storm
drain and was wasted,” says Achal.
“So we decided to make use of it.”
These water management eorts
contribute to enterprise-wide
water reduction goals, which have
been in place for about  years. The
Company’s Healthy Planet  goal for
water use is a  percent absolute reduc-
tion against the  baseline. Thanks to
numerous eorts at the local level,
Johnson & Johnson is on target to reach
this goal by the end of . New goals
will go into eect in January .
“The enterprise-level goals are very
demanding,” says S. Radhakrishnan,
Manager of Environment, Health and
Safety, Johnson & Johnson Ltd. in
Mulund, India. “We’re careful to review
our local eorts to ensure compliance
with enterprise standards as well as
community needs.”
Eorts are made within regions to
share best practices, as well as to
understand the context and combined
impact of local initiatives. Additional
eorts under way include using treated
wastewater to maintain lawns in front of a
consumer manufacturing and research
and development center in Mulund, in the
northeastern part of Mumbai, and to
nurture  trees planted on the property.
At an Ethicon facility in Aurangabad, in
western India, a water storage tank was
installed, along with piping modifications
that reduced water pressure, cutting
overall consumption. Even small steps,
like installing auto-close taps on sinks,
have helped. Meanwhile, training and
lectures on water conservation are
organized for employees.
“We have a responsibility to maintain
our environment while performing our
business eorts to meet our customers’
needs,” says Achal. “We’re developing
ourselves in such a way that future
generations will feel proud of us, our
commitment and our actions.”