Medical firm rides CSR for multi-pronged battle

The global health challenge the world is facing, and corporate social responsibility (CSR) require more united alliances, friendship and relationships, the executive of a leading medical company said.

A leading producer of regenerative medicine for burns, wounds and ulcers that operates in more than 73 countries and regions globally, MEBO understands showing care and support would showcase its commitment to CSR and also have an impact on the global community.

"We all know that COVID-19 makes a difference to everybody's life. CSR is not a single project or initiative. It is something that requires a platform across industries, cultures, and historic backgrounds. But it also unites all of our alliances and friendships and relationships we've been forging over time," said Kevin Xu, board chairman of MEBO Group.

In the early days of the COVID-19 epidemic, MEBO worked with the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries to provide medical supplies to Hubei province, where the epidemic hit the hardest, through the Hubei Red Cross Foundation.

When the United States started to face the pandemic, MEBO extended similar help to the state of California.

"So we're seeing this kind of positivity is going around in our communities and being shared among people around the world," said Xu. "We need to find a way to retain our morale when we are all battling the same enemy and confronting the same challenges."

Focusing on CSR in battling the pandemic, Xu wrote articles to advocate non-governmental organizations and non-profit organizations to stay in the fight while making themselves an inspiration for others to stay strong together.

On April 18, MEBO joined hands with the Clinton Foundation to establish the "COVID-19 Student Action Fund". The fund provides seed funding for students around the world when they have innovative ideas and creative suggestions to improve methods in battling the virus.

By doing so, the company provided opportunities to hand the torch to the younger generation in unleashing their potential to see if they could make a difference to the world through their knowledge and understanding, said Xu.

MEBO has worked with Harvard Medical School since 2016. Last month, the two provided an online registry for COVID-19-based skin related disorders for future study and exploration.

"The purpose of the move is to find out the potentialities of the regenerative science or methodologies to handle COVID-19 patients, and also to look for, in terms of the research side, what can be done to further move the science to the next higher level so we can be prepared in the future when we face the virus again," said Xu.

The company also built a free online tool to be utilized by the authorities in the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and New York University. The tool offers platforms that help people understand their needs, find the best way to allocate medical supplies throughout the US through available online data on hospital operations, and how to allocate test kits and other medical resources.

In addition, the Rongxiang Xu Bioscience Innovation Center in California, funded by MEBO, was open earlier than scheduled as a free testing site for COVID-19 for Los Angeles county residents.