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SCA, Vinda Shine Spotlight on Chinese Healthcare Project

Companies aim to make sure incontinence is recognized as major disease

June 13, 2016

Editor

SCA and Vinda—one of China’s largest hygiene companies—met Swedish and Chinese Ministers of Health in Stockholm recently at the tenth anniversary of a Memorandum of Understanding, MoU, in health are between the two countries. The agenda included an ongoing pilot project in the city of Shijiazhuang, where SCA and Vinda contribute with incontinence expertise.

Shijiazhuang has been heralded as becoming the “China Healthcare City,” where pilot programs for the reform of the Chinese healthcare sector are run. One example is the development of a primary healthcare clinic for the elderly in a new urban development called Zhengding New Area, located just outside the city. Here a Swedish model and Swedish solutions are used as benchmark.

As a leading hygiene company and member of Swecare, a network promoting export in the Swedish healthcare, SCA in partnership with Vinda have an important role to play.

“Vinda and SCA are taking part in the pilot project to ensure that incontinence is on the agenda as one of the disease focus areas. Participating in this project means opportunities for both companies as the concept has the potential to be replicated across China and make our products and services wider recognized,” says Anna Brodowsky, vice president Public Affairs at SCA.

“It could also open up for discussions around the funding of these products and services, and we can establish relationships with key stakeholders in the Chinese elderly care and health care system,” she adds.

In April, the first delegation of Swedish experts visited Zhengding New Area, among them was Björn Ålsnäs, Global Brand Innovation Manager at SCA, and Cynthia Yu, associate director incontinence at Vinda. One outcome of the visit was the initiation of a pre study of the primary healthcare clinic, where incontinence is one of the disease focus areas.

In parallel with the Zhengding project, Vinda is establishing a training center and nursing home development in the city of Jiangmen. The ambition is to secure synergies between the two projects and use learnings for the Zhengding primary care clinic, as well as the Jiangmen project, to potentially get both as focus projects under the MoU.