Diageo donates ethyl alcohol to help fight COVID-19 in Southeast Asia

Diageo, a global leader in beverage alcohol will donate neutral spirit - a 96% strength ethyl alcohol used primarily in production of alcohol beverages, to help countries in Southeast Asia in the fight against COVID-19.

Diageo Southeast Asia will provide 60, 000 litres of neutral spirit and make it available at no cost to governments and local manufacturers in the Philippines, Vietnam and Myanmar, to help overcome shortages in their healthcare systems. This initiative is estimated to support the cleaning and disinfection needs of public healthcare institutions, catering to vulnerable and at-risk groups in local communities.

This latest effort follows Diageo's earlier global announcement on 23 March 2020 regarding its pledge to donate Grain Neutral Spirit to the UK, Ireland, Italy, the USA, Brazil, Kenya, India and Australia, enabling the creation of eight million hand sanitisers for frontline medical workers in countries where Diageo has major distilling operations.

Apurvi Sheth, Managing Director, Southeast Asia, Diageo said: "As Southeast Asia steps up its efforts to stop the tide of infections, Diageo hopes to do what we can to help communities here and assist in the disinfection of hospitals and other environments to help keep our invaluable front-line workers safe across Southeast Asia."

Diageo Philippines General Manager Kavita Hans adds, "Alcohol sanitizers have been identified as a key tool in the fight against COVID-19 and during these challenging times, we want to do what we can for our communities. In the Philippines and elsewhere with Diageo, we believe that we are always stronger together."

Tran Bao Minh, General Manager of Diageo Vietnam adds "We stand ready to support the Vietnamese people and contribute to efforts to help medical workers who are at the front line in the battle against COVID-19."