Sesame Workshop India Launches New Emotional Health and Wellbeing Resources for Families Grappling with Effects of COVID-19

2024-04-24 04:45:25 Health and Fitness

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Delhi ? April 1, 2022 ? Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit behind Sesame Street, is launching new resources made possible by Viatris Inc. (NASDAQ: VTRS) to support the social and emotional needs of families across generations as they collectively continue to adapt to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Building on previous global resources addressing key emotions felt during the pandemic, launched in 2020, the new phase includes five new videos featuring beloved Sesame characters like Elmo and Grover, as they learn to handle big changes, hold mindful moments, take care of themselves and their loved ones, and so much more. In one video, launching today, Grover and Elmo learn the different ways families say goodbye as kids are going back to school and parents are returning to work, like giving each other big hugs or doing a special ?goodbye dance.? Additional videos and resources will be released on a rolling basis over the coming months.

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, families around the world are facing increased stress, pressure, and other challenges. Even before the pandemic, in 2019, the Indian Journal of Psychiatry stated that 50 million children in India suffered from mental health issues, and 80 to 90 per cent of those have not sought help. According to a recent UNICEF report, 14 percent of people aged between 15 years to 24 years, or one in seven individuals, reported feeling depressed or had little interest in engaging in activities. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, mental health-related emergency department visits in the U.S. rose 24% for children between the ages of 5 and 11 and 31% for those 12 to 17 beginning in April 2020 in comparison to the year before.

?As members of the global healthcare community, we?ve seen firsthand the pandemic?s lasting social and emotional effects in all corners of the globe. We first engaged with Sesame Workshop in 2020 during the height of COVID-19 and saw the impact their resources had on helping families navigate extremely tough times. Through this second phase, we are extending our support of Sesame Workshop to enable a new body of resources for families globally,? said Lara Ramsburg, Head of Corporate Affairs for Viatris. ?Viatris is committed to empowering people worldwide to live healthier at every stage of life, regardless of geography or circumstance, and improving health begins from the inside out. We could not be prouder to support Sesame Workshop and continue to help countless individuals, children, families and caregivers.?

The new resources, which can be found at SesameWorkshopIndia.org [https://www.sesameworkshopindia.org/caringforeachother], are designed to encourage positive conversations between children, caregivers and families about separation anxiety and the effects of isolation and unpredictability, communicating changes and uncertainty, mitigating parental stress amidst personal loss and economic strains, as well as normalizing asking for help. Over the course of the next three months, materials will be released globally, including in the U.S., India, Middle East, South Korea and Turkey.

?We have been committed to build critical socio-emotional and cognitive skills of children for the rapidly changing world.? Said Sonali Khan, Managing Director, Sesame Workshop India. ?We are grateful for the generous support of Viatris as we continue to provide resources to help young children process big feelings, communicate with their friends and grown-ups, and take care of themselves and their communities.?

The materials launched today are part of Sesame Workshop's Caring for Each Other initiative, which was created in 2020 in response to the uncertainty families continue to face during the COVID-19 pandemic. To date, the initiative has reached families in more than 100 countries and 41 languages.

SesameWorkshopIndia.org is continuously updated to reflect the ever-evolving needs of parents, caregivers and children worldwide. Additional resources are distributed through a wide range of national and community providers as part of Sesame Street in Communities, Sesame Workshop's program to support children and families.

About Viatris

Viatris Inc. (NASDAQ: VTRS) is a new kind of healthcare company, empowering people worldwide to live healthier at every stage of life. We provide access to medicines, advance sustainable operations, develop innovative solutions and leverage our collective expertise to connect more people to more products and services through our one-of-a-kind Global Healthcare Gateway?. Formed in November 2020, Viatris brings together scientific, manufacturing and distribution expertise with proven regulatory, medical, and commercial capabilities to deliver high-quality medicines to patients in more than 165 countries and territories. Viatris? portfolio comprises more than 1,400 approved molecules across a wide range of therapeutic areas, spanning both non-communicable and infectious diseases, including globally recognized brands, complex generic and branded medicines, a portfolio of biosimilars and a variety of over-the-counter consumer products. With a global workforce of approximately 37,000, Viatris is headquartered in the U.S., with global centers in Pittsburgh, Shanghai and Hyderabad, India.

About Sesame Workshop - India

Sesame Workshop - India is the Indian arm of Sesame Workshop, the internationally renowned non-profit media and educational organization behind Sesame Street, the pioneering television show that has been reaching and teaching children since 1969. We reach kids in their earliest years to provide them access to life-changing early education, critical health lessons, and helpful tools for tough situations via a combination of television, radio, digital media, mobile technologies, and community outreach across 11 states in India. Since 2006, Sesame Workshop - India has reached children through mass media including Galli Galli Sim Sim, the local version of Sesame Street, and now reaches children with engaging and educational content featuring the beloved Muppets of Sesame Street on its YouTube channels in two languages - Hindi and Telugu.