The Dutch Lady brand of FrieslandCampina Việt Nam has donated 3,800 glasses of milk to the frontline medical staff at the Bắc Ninh Province Hospital of Obstetrics and Children. Photo courtesy of FrieslandCampina Vietnam

HCM CITY — The Dutch Lady brand of FrieslandCampina Việt Nam has donated 450,000 glasses of milk worth VNĐ2 billion (US$87,000) to the frontline medical staff in COVID-19 pandemic hotspots.

The donation is part of the programme “Better Nutrition For The World, We Care We Share” launched last year to express gratitude to the community and to fight against the virus.

Of the number, 15,000 glasses of milk will go to the Obstetrics and Children hospitals in Bắc Ninh and Bắc Giang provinces, and more than 50,000 glasses of milk to the HCM City’s Children’s Hospital and Children’s Hospital 1. 

Under the framework of the programme, the brand also cooperated with the Centre for Supporting Community Development Initiatives (SCDI), a non-profit organisation under the Việt Nam Union of Science and Technology Associations, to donate 380,000 glasses of milk to financially disadvantaged patients in HCM City and Bình Dương and Bến Tre provinces so that “no one is left behind”.

The brand has focused on obstetrics and pediatrics hospitals for its donations as mothers and newborns are vulnerable to the virus and thus in need of special healthcare. 

The isolation area of Bắc Ninh Province’s Hospital for Obstetrics and Gynecology is treating 38 children and 12 pregnant women, 27 of whom are COVID-19 patients and the rest F1 (close contact of COVID-19 patients) and F2 (contacts of F1).

Tạ Thúy Hà, marketing director of FrieslandCampina Việt Nam, said the donation reflects the group’s corporate social responsibility to the community over the past 25 years of its presence in Việt Nam, especially during the pandemic.

“We hope individuals and businesses will continue to offer help and support to millions of families and doctors and nurses across the country to help them in their fight against COVID-19.”

The fourth wave has recorded about 4,600 cases so far since April 27. Forty-seven people have died of COVID-19 since the beginning of the outbreak early last year. — VNS