From left: Naveed Anjoon - Marketing Manager - Hemas Consumer Brands, Sabrina Esufally - Director - Business Development and Innovation - Hemas Consumer Brands, Sriyan de Silva Wijeyeratne - Managing Director - Hemas Consumer Brands, Krishan Balendra – Chairman - John Keells Group, Eneeshya Perera - Assistant Vice President, Senior Strategist - Corporate Finance, Kumudu Munasinghe - Assistant Vice President, Head of Corporate Communications & Group Lead - Diversity Equity & Inclusion and Isuru Gunasekera - Executive Vice President, Chief People Officer & Head - Sustainability, ERM & Group Initiatives

John Keells Holdings PLC (JKH) signed an agreement with Hemas Consumer Brands to offer all its female employees ’Fems Aya’ sanitary napkins free-of-charge.

Menstrual Health is a highly stigmatised topic, and the lack of education on menstrual health and limited access to essential sanitation, may have a negative impact on not only the physical and mental wellbeing of individuals but also the productivity of females in the workforce. 

This facility is launched in line with the Group’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DE&I) initiatives, under the brand ‘ONE JKH’. 

The partnership also provides a series of awareness sessions on menstrual health by Hemas with the aim of reducing health risks and anxiety related to menstruation.  

Krishan Balendra - Chairman, John Keells Group said, “As part of our ONE JKH initiative, this SanNap programme is aimed not only to advocate the prioritisation and de-stigmatisation of menstrual health, but also to recognise that it is a basic necessity for all females, including our workforce”

He added that while providing sanitary napkins free-of-charge for all female employees is the first phase of the SanNap programme, the second phase will include extending the facility to all employees who wish to offer their allotment to a female family member, thereby further increasing awareness and supporting the extended John Keells family.

Speaking on the occasion Sriyan de Silva Wijeyeratne Managing Director - Hemas Consumer Brands shared that a year ago Hemas Consumer through Fems Aya launched a Multi-Partner initiative for the first time in Sri Lanka and set out to train and educate women across Sri Lanka on menstrual health and hygiene and give access to an affordable Sanitary Napkin. 

“The programme has already touched thousands of lives and today we are excited about our partnership with John Keells and their phenomenal commitment to advance this cause,” he said.