Hindustan Latex moving to healthcare sector

Thiruvananthapuram, Aug 11: Hindustan Latex, the major contraceptive producer in the country, is moving to the healthcare sector with the marketing of vaccines, setting up of hospitals and women's healthcare products.

Addressing a media conference here, Latex Chairman and Managing Director M Ayyappan said the company would initially purchase the vaccines for Hepatits B and Typhoid from outside Kerala and would market it in the Hindustan Latex label and later the vaccines would be produced here itself.

Mr Ayyappan said the company has proposed to set up 1,000 'Life Spring Hospitals' with nine beds and provide the most popular facilities in reproduction and child-care throughout the country.

He said the main objective of setting up such hospitals, jointly with Hindustan Latex Family Planning Promotion Trust was to ensure better treating facility to the poor women and children at affordable costs. "We already started such hospitals in Hyderabad and Kanpur", he added.

The Trust was expanding the Life Spring Hospital network through franchising with assistance from development agencies and the Central Government. It would be an innovative public private partnership initiative of the Central Government, Mr Ayyappan said.

In the Women's Health Care Products, the company would manufacture medicines for women's healthcare at its Kanagala unit, near Belgaum in Karnataka, he said.

UNI