For Boehringer Ingelheim, a biopharmaceutical company active in Vietnam, business development is associated with a commitment to creating positive impacts on society. Out of this commitment, the company throughout its 25-year presence in Vietnam has regularly launched corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs in the country, with a special focus on vulnerable communities and animal welfare.
Creating positive values
In May this year, Boehringer Ingelheim in Vietnam conducted a series of community activities under the theme “Leading the Way,” involving over 360 employees in Hanoi and HCMC. This event reinforced Boehringer Ingelheim’s long-term commitment to local communities and sustainable development.
Specifically, Boehringer Ingelheim Vietnam employees visited shelters and nursing homes that accommodate nearly 1,500 children and elderly people at various locations in Hanoi and HCMC.
In HCMC, some 250 Boehringer Ingelheim Vienam employees visited Ky Quang Pagoda and Vinh Son Nursing Home where children and elderly people are cared for. The company’s employees prepared meals, participated in making handicrafts, helped clean premises, painted walls, planted flowers, and assisted in caring for the disadvantaged children and elderly people. Another group of Boehringer Ingelheim Vienam employees set out for collecting garbage and cleaning up public places near Thu Thiem Tunnel in Thu Duc City.
In Hanoi, meanwhile, nearly 100 Boehringer Ingelheim employees visited the Vietnam Friendship Village, which is caring for 50 war veterans and 120 children as victims of Agent Orange victims. The volunteers also prepared meals, clean up the village, and donated gifts for the people there.
These actions reflect Boehringer Ingelheim’s mission to build a healthier, more sustainable, and fairer future for the people, said Cyndy Bautista-Galimpin, general manager of Boehringer Ingelheim Vietnam.
According to her, the company’s community activities are part of a long-term commitment to improving the lives of vulnerable communities in Vietnam.
“That’s why the company representatives are here to collaborate with local partners to support these communities. This helps them feel valued and cared for. Boehringer Ingelheim will continue to take actions to enhance health and promote the development of the communities where we operate,” she said.
These community activities are part of VTI Day (Value Through Innovation), a significant cultural event of Boehringer Ingelheim Group held annually in May. The programs aim to support people in difficult circumstances and animal rescue stations.
Welfare for animals
During Boehringer Ingelheim Vietnam’s volunteering program in Hanoi, the company’s employees also visited an animal rescue station to clean up the venue, feed and help bathe the animals there. The station is taking care of 240 dogs and 40 cats that have been injured and abandoned.
Previously, to address the complex situation of rabies and minimize human deaths from rabies, Boehringer Ingelheim Vietnam in April collaborated with Long An Province’s Department of Agriculture and Rural Development and the University of Agriculture and Forestry in HCMC to provide free rabies vaccinations for dogs and cats at the Agricultural Service Center in Duc Hue District and several households with pets. The program vaccinated 6,500 dogs and cats in the province.
Hardge Torsten Klaus-Dieter, general manager of Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health Vietnam, stated, “With local vaccination campaigns, we aim to eradicate rabies from the root, preventing the spread of the virus. Vaccination is a cost-effective measure to prevent rabies.”
To date, the program has vaccinated 26,500 dogs and cats since its first implementation in 2021. The vaccination program in Duc Hue District also contributes to the Vietnamese Government’s goal of vaccinating 70% of dogs and cats from 2022 to 2025.
Torsten Hardge also expressed hope that cooperation between Boehringer Ingelheim, government agencies, strategic partners, experts, and pet owners focusing on vaccination, education, and rabies monitoring will lead to significant developments in rabies prevention and contribute to protecting the health of both animals and people, which are closely linked.
Cindy Bautista-Galimpin added that last year, the company reached and supported nearly 500 disadvantaged individuals and 300 dogs and cats. This year’s volunteer activities continued to support orphanages, elderly care centers, centers for people with disabilities, and animal rescue stations in both Hanoi and HCMC.
Enhancing healthcare in Vietnam
In 2017, Boehringer Ingelheim Vietnam introduced the Angels Initiative, just one year after the initiative had been launched in Europe. The Angels Initiative is a unique healthcare initiative that helps hospitals around the world become ‘stroke-ready’ so that patients who have just suffered a stroke can be treated as quickly and effectively as possible.
Suffering a stroke is one of the most devastating medical emergencies that can happen to a person, as up to one-third of these people die as a consequence and another third are left permanently disabled. However, with optimal acute stroke care, more lives can be saved and catastrophic disability can be prevented.
With the initiative, Boehringer Ingelheim Vietnam has helped improve stroke treatment quality, increasing the number of patients treated at hospitals ready for stroke emergencies. The company has collaborated with the World Stroke Organization (WSO), the Vietnam Stroke Association (VNSA), and the HCMC Stroke Association (HSA) to improve the health of stroke patients in Vietnam. To date, over 53,000 stroke patients have been treated at 108 stroke-ready hospitals nationwide through the Angels Initiative.
In addition, Boehringer Ingelheim Vietnam has also signed a long-term collaboration agreement with the Ministry of Health to address unmet medical needs and improve the quality of life for the people. The agreement is expected to improve diagnosis, treatment and management of cardiovascular, renal, metabolic, pulmonary, and other noncommunicable diseases. The aims were to reduce treatment costs and social costs and improve the quality of life for patients.
Commenting on the agreement, Cyndy Bautista-Galimpin said, “This collaboration provides an opportunity for further extending Boehringer Ingelheim’s sustainability journey that has been maintained over the past 25 years in Vietnam.”
