Bloomberry Cultural Foundation Inc. and the Ayala Group’s health-care unit, Ayala Healthcare Holdings Inc. have partnered with the Tropical Disease Foundation (TDF) for a biosafety facility aimed at augmenting the country’s testing capacity to detect Covid-19.
The facilities of TDF, a private nonprofit organization that local doctors set up in the 80s, have been accredited by the Department of Health and Research Institute for Tropical Medicine.
The group said its partnership adds to the country’s ability to conduct confirmatory RT-PCR tests while contributing to the country’s health-care system overall.
“We are happy to partner with AC Health and TDF and in our own way contribute to the Department of Health’s and the Inter-Agency Task Force’s Project T3—test, trace, treat—which has proven effective in curbing the pandemic,” said Donato C. Almeda, Bloomberry Foundation president.
TDF can initially process 200 confirmatory RT-PCR tests daily with its existing biosafety level 2+ laboratory and a specialty laboratory in tuberculosis research in Makati.
Bloomberry Foundation donated to the TDF lab RT-PCR machines and equipment such as PCR and RNA extraction kits, biological safety cabinets and a laboratory-grade refrigerator, among others. This is also the foundation’s second partnership with the Ayala Group, the first being the retrofitting of a unit at the Philippine General Hospital as a treatment facility.
Its initiatives include its active provision of medical supplies and personal protective equipment to numerous hospitals in the National Capital Region and nearby provinces. It has also retrofitted facilities to become treatment facilities, and has distributed relief goods and supplies.
TDF is an organization that seeks to control and prevent the spread of infectious diseases with public through research, training and other relevant service. It conducts clinical, operational, and laboratory-based researches on infectious diseases with public and private agencies at the national and international level for research programs to facilitate technology transfer. It also serves as a national and international training center for infectious disease management.
Kimberly-Clark aid
KIMBERLY-CLARK Philippines Inc. (KCPI) has donated its products to various nonprofit organizations and hospitals/treatment centers across the country for the protection of frontline health-care workers and the most vulnerable patients, particularly new mothers and their babies, against Covid-19.
The donated items worth over P3.2 million to 39 hospitals included 200,000 Huggies diapers, 200,000 Kotex feminine pads, and 20,000 Joy Bathroom tissue rolls.
The company also gave the essential goods to Frontline Feeders PH, a group providing for the needs of frontline health-care workers in public hospitals.
“The current health crisis has undoubtedly affected multiple sectors’ ability to efficiently access personal care necessities. Respecting and caring for the communities where we live and work is enveloped in our DNA and we’ve committed ourselves to help them navigate through this situation,” said Michael Vainio, general manager of KCPI. “We’re hopeful that our donation will help inject a sense of dignity and normalcy to the current lives of our beneficiaries as they manage their day-to-day personal care needs,” he added.
As more and more hospitals are overwhelmed by the increasing number of Covid-19 cases, the firm understands the importance of helping out the health-care sector augment its resources.
Since the initial outbreak of this novel pneumoccoccal disease early this year, KCPI has also extended its support to nonprofit organizations catering to different communities afflicted by the pandemic.
It recently donated products to the We Heal as One Center, a joint initiative of Ayala Foundation and ICCP Group Foundation Inc. that converted the World Trade Center into a 500-bed Covid-19 quarantine facility.
The organization also donated to underserved communities, such as marginalized families, street dwellers, blue-collar workers, and urban poor women, through the following groups: Power in Her Story, I Support the Girls, and Project SMILE. VG Cabuag, Roderick L. Abad
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