Southern Russia regional tensions increase demands for PHCEU-supported children’s foundation

Etten-Leur, The Netherlands: – Regional tensions between Russia and its southern neighbors have placed new demands on the work of the Belaya Rosa children’s foundation, supported by biomedical preservation specialist PHC Europe B.V. (PHCEU).

PHC Corporation, an internationally recognized leader in high-quality preservation, incubation and sterilization medical and laboratory equipment, helped to establish Belaya Rosa as a new charitable initiative to help disadvantaged children in and around Stavropol in the Caucasus region of Southern Russia.

Conflict impacts

Since foundation in 2008, the region has been badly affected by conflicts involving Russia, Ukraine and Georgia increasing overall deprivation in the area. The Belaya Rosa Foundation is currently providing educational and leisure activities for more than 350 local children from some 220 families, who would otherwise face extreme poverty.

The foundation was co-founded and sponsored by PHC Europe B.V. as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) program.

Poverty has been an issue in Russia for many years with the impact of many years of political turmoil. The Russian Federation now has one of the world’s highest percentages of children living in poverty with many children living in single parent families or abandoned by their parents altogether.

Children’s challenges

The collapse of the Soviet Union and the social and economic crisis that followed led to major cutbacks in government spending on education, including after-school programs, school health centers, summer programs, and centers for extracurricular activities. Disadvantaged children now struggle to thrive against a background of very limited orphanage provision and youth care systems.

By the mid-2000s, government spending on education per child had halved in real terms from 1990 level and the more recent effects of global economic recession, plunging global oil prices and sanctions imposed by the Ukraine conflict have intensified poverty even further.

As a consequence, youth homelessness and the rate of alcoholism and drug abuse amongst teenagers has increased dramatically, as have delinquency and suicide rates. UNESCO estimated in 2016 that almost 147,000 under 17-year-olds did not participate in education across Russia, with higher non-attendance rates in conflict-affected areas.

Belaya Rosa Foundation

Staff at PHC Corporation, Biomedical Division wanted to help when they heard about the plight of some children in the city of Stavropol through a colleague who knew volunteers that worked with them. Financial support from PHCEU enabled the birth of the new charity in 2008, focusing on providing direct support to the disadvantaged children of Stavropol – The Belaya Rosa Foundation.

Initially focused on helping young children from large families (with four or more children), the children of single mothers, alcoholic- or homeless parents, orphans and street children, Belaya Rosa has provided opportunities and encouragement to these children to attend school and participate in recreational activities, such as dance. In addition, the Foundation organizes holiday camps and day trips for disadvantaged children in the summer.

More recently, the Foundation has extended its activities to helping 16-19-year-olds, who would otherwise receive no support since Russia’s state orphanage program provides no child care until the age of 16, assuming that children will be self-sufficient from this stage onwards.

Teenagers are often unprepared for this transition and things often take a turn for the worse. The Belaya Rosa Foundation helps these youngsters to become independent.

About PHCEU

Netherlands-based PHC Europe BV (PHCEU) is the European and African arm of the international PHC Corporation, whose PHCbi products are recognized worldwide as a leading and trusted brand for reliable, high-quality medical and laboratory equipment, with particular focus on technologies for preservation, incubation, sterilization and healthcare.

The company’s mission is to provide a leading, trusted brand for sustainable healthcare and biomedical product solutions, supporting the work of its customers to improve the health and well-being of people around the world.

PHCEU solutions range from excellent sample security in an ultra-low temperature (ULT) freezer or the best environment for cell culture in a CO2 incubator, while its relationships span the pharmaceutical, healthcare and biotechnology sectors, with a pan-continental supply and support network that can quickly meet customer demands across Europe and Africa.

PHCbi products are grouped in four main ranges: Preservation, Incubation, Processing and Sterilization and include ULT, cryogenic and biomedical Freezers, pharmaceutical and blood bank refrigerators, liquid nitrogen cryopreservation freezers, lab tanks, transport containers and vapor shippers and a range of incubation and sterilization solutions.

PHCEU is part of the international PHC Corporation, founded in Japan in 1969, that now operates across more than 120 countries worldwide, focusing on the three core business fields of Medical Devices, Healthcare IT & Life Sciences.

PHC products and facilities are certified to ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and ISO 13485 standards for quality, environmental management and medical devices.

PHC can provide turnkey solutions for validation and qualification in accordance with all current GMPs, GLPs, GCPs, 21 CFR Part 11, PAT, ISO and specific customer requirements and applications.

Resources

Click on PHCEU supports Belaya Rosa for more information.
Click on Corporate Social Responsibilities for more details of PHC’s CSR program.