Mount Miriam Roche Cares Program
Press Release- Mount Miriam
PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release
ROCHE CHILDREN’S WALK CONTINUES TO RAISE FUNDS FOR CHILDREN DISADVANTAGED WITH HIV/AIDS FROM RUMAH SOLEHAH
(L – R) Martin Kikstein, General Manager of Roche Services (Asia Pacific) Sdn Bhd. ; Lance Duan, General Manager of Roche (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd; Matron Fadzilah Abdul Hamid, Head of Rumah Solehah, Representative from Rumah Solehah, Rosziana Rosland, HR Lead, Roche Diagnostics (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd.
PETALING JAYA, January 11, 2021 – Recently, Rumah Solehah, a home for children living with HIV/AIDS received RM 34,100 from Roche in Malaysia in conjunction with Roche’s annual corporate social responsibility event, Roche Children’s Walk. This event was powered by more than 1,000 Roche employees from the pharmaceutical, diagnostics and the shared services division to raise funds to help improve the lives of underprivileged children.
Roche Children’s Walk is the company’s signature worldwide employee project. Since the first company walk in 2003, more than 230,000 Roche employees, worldwide, have raised over CHF 19 million in donations for children’s projects around the world. In 2019 itself, 25,000 employees across 169 sites in 76 countries participated in the Walk, a record year. This year, due to the pandemic situation, it was challenging than previous years, as most fund-raising activities had to be organized virtually. However, that did not deter the employees’ passion and enthusiasm when they proposed innovative and creative virtual fund-raising activities, like a concert, walks, bazaar, auctions for service, monetary donation, etc.
“Themed ‘Let’s Go!’, the Roche Children’s Walk is an important day in the Roche calendar. Not only does it unite employees from all over the world behind one good cause, but it also serves to remind us that each of us can have an impact and improve other people’s lives,” said Lance Duan, General Manager of Roche (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd.
Lance also added, “In 2020, we helped raise funds for Rumah Solehah and we are glad to have this continuity with them once again. It was slightly more challenging for us, due to the pandemic situation, but I was pleased to see our Roche employees actively participating in various virtual fund-raising activities, as the funds raised will be able to help these children gain a better quality of life. These children need a lot of love, care and attention from the community instead of being shunned for their condition. I am truly humbled by the energy of my colleagues and their determination to make an impact in our local community, especially when there were a group of Roche volunteers who continuously visited the home to look into the needs of the children – truly exemplifying their commitment of Roche to be a socially responsible partner.”
“We are grateful that Roche partnered with us for the second year to raise funds for the children. Covid-19, imposition of MCO and RMCO affected our ability to carry our various annual fund raising activities. The contribution from Roche Malaysia will be helpful in meeting the needs of running the home - from providing the children with nutritious meals, medicines, tuition, visits to hospitals amongst others. We are most proud to share that contribution from Roche Children’s Walk in 2019 enabled one student to fulfil her culinary dream by enrolling in a baking course. It is heart-warming to see that with the current challenging times for businesses, companies like Roche still support underprivileged community with their generosity,” Matron Fadzilah Abdul Hamid, Head of Rumah Solehah
Rumah Solehah is a half way home for women and children living with HIV/AIDS. Since its inception in 1998, many women and children have “graduated” from the home. The home believes that HIV/AIDS is about fighting to survive and to lead a near normal life. The children and women need a lot of encouragement, motivation and positive thinking. The volunteers and trainers help the children, who are shunned by society, to get back into the community just like any normal children. The home also looks into the needs of the children’s daily medicines and vitamins.
The funds raised in Malaysia will be matched by the company for the global initiatives through the Roche Employee Action and Charity Trust (Re&Act), a legally independent charity. Re&Act partners with a variety of organisations, such as UNICEF and ActionAid Malawi, to support children’s education and health programmes in developing countries. Common initiatives supported by Roche Children’s Walk include education, nutrition, primary healthcare and social development programs.
About Roche
Roche is a global pioneer in pharmaceuticals and diagnostics focused on advancing science to improve people’s lives. The combined strengths of pharmaceuticals and diagnostics under one roof have made Roche among the leaders in personalised healthcare – a strategy that aims to fit the right treatment to each patient in the best way possible.
Roche is one of the world’s largest biotech companies, with truly differentiated medicines in oncology, immunology, infectious diseases, ophthalmology and diseases of the central nervous system. Roche is also one of the world leaders in in vitro diagnostics and tissue-based cancer diagnostics, and a frontrunner in diabetes management.
Founded in 1896, Roche continues to search for better ways to prevent, diagnose and treat diseases and make a sustainable contribution to society. The company also aims to improve patient access to medical innovations by working with all relevant stakeholders. Twenty-nine medicines developed by Roche are included in the World Health Organization Model Lists of Essential Medicines, among them life-saving antibiotics, antimalarials and cancer medicines. Roche has been recognised as the Group Leader in sustainability within the Pharmaceuticals, Biotechnology & Life Sciences Industry eight years in a row by the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices (DJSI).
The Roche Group, headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, is active in over 100 countries and in 2016 employed more than 94,000 people worldwide. In 2016, Roche invested CHF 9.9 billion in R&D and posted sales of CHF 50.6 billion. Genentech, in the United States, is a wholly owned member of the Roche Group. Roche is the majority shareholder in Chugai Pharmaceutical, Japan. For more information, please visit www.roche.com.
Roche has been present in Malaysia since the 1950s, when the sales and distribution of products was managed by a third party distributor. Since then, Roche has established its operations to include Roche (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., the pharmaceutical business, Roche Diagnostics (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd. And Roche Shared Service centre. With a total staff strength of over 1,000, Roche has grown into one of the leading healthcare companies in Malaysia that provides holistic healthcare solutions to healthcare practitioners and patients. For more information, please visit www.roche.com.my
About Roche Children’s Walk: A day powered by Roche employees
Roche Children’s Walk is the company’s global signature employee project. Since the first company-wide walk in 2003, more than 230,000 Roche employees have participated, raising more than CHF 19 million. All money collected by employees is matched by Roche and used to support local children’s causes in communities where Roche operates, as well as in developing countries such as Malawi, Ethiopia and the Philippines. Funds are applied to local NGOs or channeled through the Roche Employee Action and Charity Trust (Re&Act), a legally independent charity. For more information, please visit www.react.roche.com.
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Pat-Lin Communications Sdn Bhd on behalf of Roche (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd S.S.Patricia | [email protected] | 019 6683 083
M-MY-00000225-12-2020