The principal partner of the national patriotic hygiene movement from the Ministry of Health

Following the pandemic, Vietnam is facing the challenge of increasing dengue and hand, foot, and mouth diseases in many cities and provinces.

Since the beginning of the year, the country has recorded more than 92,000 cases and 36 deaths caused by dengue. The number of dengue cases is likely to spread across the country, especially in the southern, central, and highland regions.

On July 25, Unilever Vietnam – with the Lifebuoy and Vim brands – supported the Ministry of Health (MoH) and Binh Duong People's Committee to organise a conference to launch the national sanitation and personal hygiene movement to prevent epidemics.

The event took place in Thu Dau Mot, Binh Duong, to mobilise all levels of authorities, socio-political organisations, families, and the whole society to participate in activities to prevent and control hand, foot, and mouth disease and dengue to avoid outbreaks of these infectious diseases in the future.

James Griffin, vice president of Unilever Vietnam, speaking at the meeting to launch the national sanitation and personal hygiene movement

Other activities to support the national sanitation movement include conducting in-field research in local areas where there are epidemic outbreaks, a series of communication activities to educate people on preserving environmental sanitation, larvae removal to prevent dengue, personal hygiene to prevent COVID-19 and hand, foot and mouth diseases, and organising media parades in areas with epidemic outbreaks.

Deputy Minister of Ministry of Health Nguyen Thi Lien Huong highly appreciated the timely cooperation of the Unilever Vietnam Foundation and the Lifebuoy and Vim brands.

“Unilever Vietnam's contributions in recent years have become a practical part of the national patriotic hygiene movement to improve people's health, which mainly focuses on environmental sanitation, personal hygiene, and preventing and fighting epidemics in accordance with the prime minister's decision to hold the Patriotic Hygiene Day on July 2 every year,” she said.

Relentless efforts For a healthier Vietnam with the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Education and Training

During its 27-year presence in Vietnam, Unilever has always been committed to supporting the government and local authorities to improve people’s health and hygiene through education on personal hygiene habits and the environment. This is one of the key pillars in the sustainable development programme that Unilever Vietnam has been pursuing for many years.

Through the For a healthier Vietnam programme with the MoH since 2007, Unilever Vietnam has directly helped more than 22 million people improve their hygiene and health conditions with practical innovative programmes from P/S, Lifebuoy, Vim, Knorr, OMO, and PureIt.

Lifebuoy - Handwashing with Soap for a Healthier Vietnam has provided free soaps and built handwashing habits for more than 10 million people in schools and the community.

Communication campaigns on personal hygiene, handwashing with soap, and disease prevention have reached more than 35 million Vietnamese people nationwide via public media and mass communication channels.

This year, Lifebuoy also continues to implement phase two with the Stay strong Vietnam - For a Healthier Vietnam programme, with the mission of increasing access to proper handwashing with soap and hand sanitiser for more than 10 million Vietnamese children by 2025.

In 1998, the P/S - Protecting Vietnam's Smiles programme was started with dental buses travelling to urban and rural areas to provide oral examinations and treatments for millions of students and teachers at pre-schools and primary schools across the country.

The programme has reached and educated 25 million students, including 10 million people through online media, and organised free dental check-ups for more than seven million children. The programme has also awarded more than eight million sets of dental products to students nationwide.

The Vim – Clean Toilet Journey programme has not only brought 1,130 standard school toilets to millions of children across Vietnam but also educated more than 4.7 million people on environmental sanitation in the community.

The Green - Clean - Healthy School programme, led and implemented by Unilever's brands since 2012, aims for the comprehensive development of children through the upgrading of school facilities and implementing education on hygiene and healthcare. By 2020, the program had helped build 445 safety playgrounds, upgraded and built 1,000 clean toilets in 762 primary schools, provided free hand soap, and educated 7.2 million students nationwide on proper handwashing habits.

As a part of its upcoming plan, Unilever Vietnam, with the support of six brands – P/S, Lifebuoy, Vim, Knorr, OMO, and PureIt – will offer three educational pillars including hygiene, nutrition, and environmental protection through two main activities.

These will focus on upgrading school facilities and digital curriculums on five green, clean, and healthy habits – brushing teeth day and night, maintaining clean toilets, washing hands with soap frequently, drinking boiled or filtered water, and planting trees to protect the environment.

All these actions serve the same mission of building a new national standard of health, hygiene and nutrition for all primary schools nationwide by 2025.

During the intense period of the pandemic, Unilever supported the Ministry of Health with the Stay Strong Vietnam programme.

Through this, Unilever Vietnam cooperated with the MoH to distribute a national communications campaign on personal hygiene and COVID-19 prevention to the community, reaching nearly 750 million people through mass communication channels.

113 Lifebuoy handwashing stations were installed in public areas, raising awareness and encouraging people to wash their hands with soap and maintain personal hygiene to prevent the spread of the virus.

Unilever also donated 2.5 million hygiene products to more than 2.6 million people in schools, hospitals, health centres, women's unions, centres for disease control and prevention, and youth associations across the country

Vice president of Unilever Vietnam James Griffin said, “All of the above figures demonstrate the close and effective coordination and synergy between the Ministry of Health, local authorities, and businesses – of which Unilever Vietnam is a pioneer. In 2022, the Ministry of Health and local authorities will continue to take action to prevent the risk of emerging disease outbreaks as well as other existing diseases in the country.”

“We are committed to continuously supporting the Ministry of Health to raise awareness. We will encourage people to take action to maintain environmental sanitation and personal hygiene to prevent diseases effectively through communication activities and products, joining hands to build a healthier Vietnam,” he concluded.