Viet Nam’s first-ever breast milk bank was officially inaugurated on 14 January at the Da Nang Maternity and Paediatrics Hospital. 

Funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the over 1.73 billion VND bank is being implemented on a trial basis until November 2016. 

The bank aims to improve the healthcare of newborns and ensure that around 3,000 newborn babies, whose mothers cannot feed them with their own, can still have access to breast milk.

The bank will collect milk in accordance with the rules prescribed by the Vietnamese Ministry of Health, including selecting healthy donors and sterilising the milk before use.