As world blood donor day recently passed on June 14, we take a deep dive into anaemia, a blood condition that like many diseases and conditions can be more easily combated through awareness and early detection.

Anaemia refers to a medical condition in which the blood does not have enough healthy red blood cells. It is often a result from lack of red blood cells or dysfunctional red blood cells in the body.

In Sub Saharan Africa, a high percentage of young children and women are particularly at risk of severe anaemia. According to a WHO estimate, anaemia affects more than 68% of pre-school children, 48% of non-pregnant women and 57% of pregnant women in Sub-Saharan Africa. The complex interactions between anaemia and other factors like malnutrition make it worse.

Children learn by doing, and habits adopted from an early age are practiced throughout life. Something as simple as correct hand techniques will be massively impactful, because handwashing is a critical component in eradicating communicable diseases. And where better to start than in schools?

For over a decade, we have been presenting our school contact programs, with the aim of promoting sound hygiene practices in schools. These fun and interactive mornings include demonstrations of effective handwashing techniques, proper oral hygiene, and handing out samples of Flodent toothpaste and Germol soap to hundreds of eager children.

One of our staff members involved in the project, commented, “It’s heartening to see the kids and we really get motivated by the reaction of the school authorities, who are grateful to us.”

Our vision is to ultimately continue this program throughout Africa, as the effect on the future well-being of these children is humbling and we are inspired to be a part of that future.

We are steamrolling ahead with our continued campaigns in schools throughout Africa. The latest in our exciting initiatives is the Germol Inter-School Competition, pitting great young minds against each other on General Knowledge, Current Affairs and Personal Hygiene. Co-hosted with RTNC Channel, the hugely popular TV and radio broadcaster, we brought together 1000 students from the Tshopo region, DRC. In a two-week round-robin challenge, the final showdown on 10 April saw College Pere Mando coming out tops. By affecting learning and health education in fun and engaging ways, we reach more of the population and cement that learning from a young age. Plans are underway to grow this event to a national level, with hopes to partner again with RTNC and many more thousands of children.

The National Grand Finale of the Shalina Rising Stars Award took place on 29 March 2022. It was a full house of senior consultants, dignitaries, and resident doctors whom all added shine to the glamorous occasion.

Visibly excited, Dr. Adebayo Olaolu narrowly came out tops amongst 60 entries in 36 institutions, to become the first-ever Shalina Rising Stars Award winner.

This event is a trailblazer, that has opened partnerships with resident doctors across Nigeria, ensuring a legacy of health learning and health participation throughout the region. The Shalina Rising Stars Award is a value-added initiative to develop and impact healthcare delivery, ensuring quality and affordable healthcare in Africa for decades to come. We are excited for Season 2!

We recently hosted the finest doctors at the CVD (cardiovascular disease) Grand Launch, including professors and heads of department from the top hospitals in Nigeria and West Africa. Over one hundred delegates gathered at Lagos Waterfront for an unforgettable night of learning and celebration. Our medical colleagues presented two powerful lectures on Teleshal and Rosuvastatin, and their respective uses in the treatment of cardiovascular disease. The launch culminated in a glorious fireworks display, a metaphorical highlight of our continued dedication to making quality healthcare products affordable and available across Africa.

Shalina Healthcare has signed an agreement with The Technical Unit for Private Investment (UTIP) in Angola.  UTIP is the Angolan Government agency that receives, analyses and recommends to the President of The Republic of Angola any foreign direct investment exceeding US$10m.

Shalina plans to invest US$16m to build a new Shalina Distribution Centre. The new centre will house a world class pharmaceutical distribution facility that complies with international GSDP standards (Good Storage and Distribution Practices) and it will be used to distribute Shalina’s range of more than 300 pharmaceuticals products across Angola. The new centre will also contain a large training centre that will be used to conduct continuous medical education for doctors and pharmacists in Angola.

The land acquisition has been completed.  Civil construction work will start in October 2017 and is expected to be completed by early 2019.

This investment reflects our long term commitment to Angola and partnering with the Angolan Government’s priority to ensure Quality medicines at Affordable prices across Angola.

Shalina Healthcare is implementing Microsoft Dynamics NAV and LS Retail Point of Sale system across our businesses for the consolidation of systems and strategic transformation across the company’s operational landscape. This implementation will help to integrate the business processes and systems resulting in higher operational efficiency.

Microsoft Dynamics-NAV solution is trusted by 2,200 companies and over 1,250,000 licensed users worldwide. MS-NAV has the flexibility, customization capability along with the multi-company, multi-language and multi-currency functionality which makes it perfect for global businesses like Shalina Healthcare.

The first stage of our MS-NAV implementation has been completed by implementing it successfully in Zambia, Nigeria, Ghana, Dubai and now, most recently, Angola. The next phase is in progress to implement it in the rest of the Shalina Healthcare businesses.

Some of the benefits achieved through MS – NAV implementation are:

• Standardization in creation and maintenance of organization processes
• Real-time consolidation of financials
• Proactive and predictive with embedded business intelligence tools that help us not only solve problems but also prevent them from occurring in the first place.
• LS Point of Sale system offers an end-to-end solution, fully embedded within Microsoft Dynamics NAV, giving complete visibility over the entire operation, from Point of Sale to back office and head office functions
• Powerful reporting and analytical capabilities help staff to work better, faster, and smarter.
• Improved insight at all levels of the business through integrated centralized system and drill down capabilities and detailed audit trails.

Shalina is proud to announce the inauguration of its new ointment manufacturing facility on 3^rd October 2016 at its plant in Pune, India. The state-of-the-art ointment manufacturing facility along with a dedicated warehousing block will enhance our monthly production capacity of creams to 13 million tubes and lotions to 3 million bottles. This expansion was undertaken with a capital investment of 4 million USD.

The facility is conceptualized and designed along the WHO cGMP guidelines leading to easy and efficient material handling from raw materials to finished goods. It is a fully automated, closed manufacturing concept so that the finished product made is with minimal human intervention. The facility is supported by the world class quality testing lab having the latest QA and QC instrumentation.

Our vision to provide affordable medicines available across Africa has guided our strategic capacity enhancement initiatives throughout the last 3 decades of existence. With this strategic initiative, Shalina will continue to be a leader in the healthcare industry in Africa.

As part of its expansion into French West Africa, Shalina receives a number of registrations, across its therapeutic categories.

Shalina receives Certification from DPML Ivory Coast in West Africa along with a significant number of registrations.