UNICEF co-operates with company to improve children's health in Vietnam
Kimberly-Clark Corporation yesterday announced its intent to partner with UNICEF to support initiatives that improve neonatal health outcomes in the rural mountainous and central highland provinces of north and central Vietnam and reduce infant mortality.
At the signing ceremony. Photo by the UNICEF
In the past 25 years, Vietnam has achieved significant progress in improving survival rates for children under five years of age, reducing from 52 to 21 deaths per 1,000 live births, between 1990 and 2018. Despite this progress, infant mortality rates in the North and Central Highlands remain high and in some provinces such as Lai Chau and Kon Tum, the rates are three times higher than the national average.
The partnership, signed on December 12 at the UN House in Hanoi, commits to provide targeted support to 7 provinces - Dien Bien, Lao Cai, Son La, Lai Chau, Gia Lai, Kon Tum, Dak Nong. This will include interventions to help strengthen neo-natal health systems through regular trainings for healthcare workers on Early Essential Newborn Care (EENC) and Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC), and by establishing processes that improves access to essential healthcare services for pregnant mothers and their babies. Kimberly-Clark and UNICEF estimate that these interventions will directly benefit 265,000 newborn lives over the next 3 years and will indirectly help more than a million newborns annually.
“Partnerships with the business community energise the important work of maternal and child health and expedite progress. That’s why we’re so pleased, today, to launch with Kimberly Clark, and its Huggies brand, a partnership with the Ministry of Health and UNICEF that will further improve the health and well-being of Vietnamese mothers and their children, especially the most disadvantaged,” said Rana Flowers, Representative, UNICEF Vietnam.
Vice Minister of Health Nguyen Truong Son appreciated the contribution of Kimberly-Clark Corporation and UNICEF in improving maternal and child health. “We are delighted to witness the partnership of Kimberly-Clark and UNICEF to support programmes committed to improve maternal and neonatal healthcare in Northern and Central Highlands of Vietnam through capacity building for healthcare workers at national, provincial and commune levels. This is an important contribution to the Ministry to achieve our goals towards reducing infant and child mortality”.
Kimberly-Clark Vietnam Managing Director, Ashwini Nagpal, said, "As the maker of Huggies diaper, a name that contains within it the word ‘hug’, Kimberly-Clark is committed to the hope that one day no baby will remain unhugged for lack of care and facilities. With this new partnership with UNICEF in which we will invest USD1 million over three years, is focused on the northern and central highland provinces of Vietnam and is intended to support the great work that the Ministry of Health and its Department of Maternal and Child Health has been leading over the years. Newborns in Vietnam now have a better chance of survival than ever before and we hope that through this partnership, we can assist the government in achieving its goals in these remote, difficult to access areas as well.”
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