Donated equipment can process 96 samples per hour and will benefit states including Rio de Janeiro, Pará, Amazonas and São Paulo
JBS, through its social responsibility program ‘Good Deeds Are Good – Feeding the World with Solidarity’, donated 21 RNA extractors and 62 extraction kits to the Ministry of Health, to be used in the Central Public Health Laboratory (LACEN) in states in all regions of the country. The equipment is used to perform Covid-19 testing.
The equipment brings faster testing of the disease and each one has the capacity to process 96 samples in an hour. After the pandemic, the RNA extractor can be used to diagnose viral diseases such as influenza, HPV and Hepatitis B and C viruses, among others.
21 LACEN units will start receiving equipment and testing kits this month. They are: Acre, Alagoas, Amapá, Amazonas, Bahia, Ceará, Espírio Santo, Minas Gerais, Mato Grosso do Sul, Pará, Paraíba, Piauí, Paraná, Rio de Janeiro, Rio Grande do Norte, Roraima, Santa Catarina, Sergipe, São Paulo, Tocantins and Distrito Federal.
Telemedicine in the Amazon
More than R$ 1,5 million in funds have been donated to NGO’s operating in the Amazon to assist remote communities there through telehealth hubs, strengthening Community Health Agents (ACS) and food safety by donating food baskets, hygiene and cleaning products and PPEs, as from January 2021. JBS had made the donation under its social responsibility program in partnership with the Sustainable Amazon Foundation, (Fundação Amazonas Sustentável), or FAS, which is running the Amazon Covid Alliance (“Aliança COVID Amazonas”).
The project will benefit six difficult-to-access communities in the Amazon: The São Raimundo Community of the Médio Juruá Extractivist Reserve (Resex), in the municipality of Carauari; the Nova Esperança Community of the Baixo Jutaí Resex, in the municipality of Jutaí; the Marauaá Community of the Auati-Paranã Resex, in the municipality de Fonte Boa; the Curimatá de Baixo Community of the Capanã Grande Resex, in the municipality of Manicoré; the Ponto do Campo Community of the Capanã Grande Resex, in the municipality of Manicoré; and the São Sebastião Community of Flona Tefé, in the municipality of Tefé. “The telehealth program implemented in the remote areas alleviates the suffering of the populations, avoiding unnecessary traveling while also assisting the work of the Community Health Agents. The partnership will also enable technical training and the provision of work instruments for the health agents, such as stretchers, oximeters, and thermometers, among others. Moreover, actions are also contemplated to benefit the communities where these professionals live”, says the coordinator of the Health in the Forest Program of the FAS, Luiz Castro.
UFMT and JBS deliver gel alcohol to the indigenous community of Gaúcha do Norte (MT)
The Federal University of Mato Grosso (UFMT) has begun delivery of a special batch of gel alcohol to the indigenous people of the Gaúcha do Norte region. The partnership with JBS will distribute, in all, 8,000 liters of the product that contains cloves, a natural repellant and fungicide.
Since the onset of the pandemic, the Company has donated 20,000 liters of pure alcohol to the university, used by the technical team of the Chemistry Department to manufacture 70% gel alcohol hand sanitizer.
Under the coordination of professor Dr. Ailton José Terezo, the initiative has already assisted several communities and residents in the State of Mato Grosso, including riverine populations, indigenous peoples and quilombola communities.
‘Good Deeds are Good – Feeding the World with Solidarity’
Through the social responsibility program ‘Good Deeds are Good – Feeding the World with Solidarity’, JBS has allocated R$400m in donations to combat the pandemic throughout Brazil through public health initiatives and another R$20m for social projects. More than 290 municipalities have benefited from the actions carried out by the Company in all Brazilian states and in the Federal District.
In December, JBS also handed over a tomographer to the Gaspar Hospital in Santa Catarina State. With the arrival of the equipment, unprecedented at the institution, it will be possible to carry out examinations on interned patients and in the A&E unit, as well as enabling the initiation of an outpatient agenda for the region. Another tomographer has been delivered to the Municipal Health Fund of Porangatu, in the State of Goiás (GO), to boost assistance to the population.
From January the ‘Good Deeds are Good’ program will enter a new phase of action focused on volunteering involving team members at JBS production units in more than 100 municipalities. JBS will dedicate more than R$20m towards this. Learn more at jbs.com.br/fazerobemfazbem.