Dettol, the leading antibacterial brand celebrated the 2018 Global Handwashing Day in Abuja by calling on all Nigerians to imbibe the handwashing habit as a day-to-day activity for the reduction of diarrhoea related diseases. Proper handwashing practices according to recent findings by the World Health Organisation can reduce communicable diseases by more than 59%.
The Dettol brand has been known for promoting good hygiene practices amongst millions of Nigerians, especially children in the last eight years, through the regular school outreaches and its School Hygiene Programme. Dettol has also executed various activities promoting healthy lifestyle such as donation of hand wash sites to schools, organising workshops for nursing mothers and partnering with the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), amongst other professional bodies.
Speaking at Dettol’s 2018 Global Handwashing Day event in Abuja, the General Manager, RB West Africa, Mr. Dayanand Sriram stated that “Dettol has been the trusted champion for good health and hygiene for over 50 years in Nigeria, and we believe that it is important to inculcate good habits such as proper handwashing at an early age. A simple act of washing hands with soap can prevent illnesses and arrest diarrhoea related deaths. This is why we are continuing with the tradition of driving habit change, and provision of needed infrastructure.
“Over the past years, Dettol has provided handwashing sites and educated over 7 million children, parents and teachers about the importance of handwashing through the School Hygiene Program, which is a mass education program about proper handwashing and hygiene habits,” he added.
During the event marking this year’s GHD in Abuja, over 2,000 school children drawn from 7 public and private schools which have benefited from Dettol’s School Hygiene Programme across 4 Local Governments in the FCT, participated in a symbolic hand-wash relay. The event held at L.E.A Model Primary School, Maitama, Abuja, where Dettol also donated 12 hand washing stations to help facilitate and maintain the habit of proper handwashing by the school children.
Present at the event were Mrs. Jumai Muhammed, Director, Child Development, Federal Ministry of Women Affairs, representing Minister Of Women Affairs, Mr. Fubara Chuku, National Coordinator Food Safety and Quality Programme, representing the Honorable Minister of Health, Katherine Arron Rengkwar, Headmistress of L.E.A Model Primary School, Maitama, Abuja, and senior executives of RB West Africa.
In a speech delivered at the event by Mr. Fubara Chuku, The Honourable Minister declared that, “Handwashing with soap can prevent transmission of variety of pathogens as it may be more effective than any single vaccine or hygiene behavior.”
Speaking further, the Minister also expressed appreciation for the efforts of RB in promoting good hygiene amongst Nigerians:“I would like to express my delight to Reckitt Benckiser for organizing this celebration of Global Handwashing Day. This is a demonstration of your commitment to the course of reducing diseases transmission in the country and meeting the target of the SDGs.”
Dettol has been running various health and hygiene programmes across Nigeria targeted at children and mothers. New mothers are educated from the birth of their children on healthy hygiene habits across various milestones of their newborns’ lives. Over 1 million new mothers are engaged every year through the programme in public hospitals and clinics across the country.