Sanofi CHC, SCMx Strengthen Alliance Against Infant Mortality

Sanofi CHC celebrated its third year fighting infant mortality caused by diarrhea by reaffirming its commitment through an alliance with NGO Save the Children (SCMx), which began in August 2019 and has benefited over 83,000 people in Mexico.

In 2019, 1.2 million people died across the world due to diarrhea, from which 370,000 were children under five years old, according to WHO. During that year, Mexico saw over 1 million severe diarrheal illness cases, with 596 deaths in children under five years old, according to INEGI.

“In Latin America, at Sanofi CHC, we have proposed to positively impact more than 70,000 people this year through local alliances with five recognized NGOs in the different countries in which we operate. In the case of Mexico, for three years we have been working with SCMx with the objective of preventing infant mortality, which is aligned with their objectives: no girl or boy dies from preventable causes before the age of five,” said in a press release Sanofi CHC.

As part of the 'Restoring lives, fighting against diarrhea' program, Sanofi CHC and SCMx work in coordination to positively impact over 6,000 families in vulnerable communities of Mexico City and State of Mexico, with the “Enterogermina Health Convoy” van. This vehicle will take sanitization kits directly to their homes and provide educational and recreational activities to amplify the message of hand washing in the prevention of acute diarrhea.

Additionally, Sanofi CHC implemented a campaign throughout October “to double our efforts and in addition to our education and prevention activities, we have launched the ‘buy and support’ campaign. During October, every sale of Enterogermina in Mexico will contribute MX$5 (US$0.25) to strengthen the work we have developed with SCMx in the country and will allow us to continue developing actions in favor of children in communities in Mexico City, State of Mexico, Puebla, Oaxaca and Sinaloa,” said Vanessa Cohen, Leader of Scientific Affairs, Sanofi CHC Latin America.

Diarrhea has become the second leading cause of death in children under five, and currently affects 1.7 billion children every year, killing 525,000 of them, according to WHO. The organization recommends sanitation, safe drinking-water, hand washing with soap, health education about how infections spread, exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life and rotavirus vaccination to prevent diarrheal disease.

The pharmaceutical group’s work in Mexico also includes vaccines for both children and adults. “Sanofi is the world's leading producer of the influenza vaccine, hexavalent vaccines for children and a total of 14 vaccines for all ages, which allow us to contribute to the fight against preventable suffering and death,” said to MBN Fernando Sampaio, Country Lead and General Manager, Sanofi México.