by Jewel Stephen

Leading global antiseptic brand, Dettol,  launched the “Give Life a Hand Campaign” on Tuesday, 14 October, in Lagos to commemorate the 2014 Global Handwashing Day (GHD) and further strengthen its commitment to  improved best hygiene practices and hand washing habits in Nigeria.

Give Life A Hand is a global campaign aimed at raising awareness of the importance of hand hygiene in the prevention of needless deaths of children under the age of five from preventable illnesses such as diarrhea and acute respiratory infections, often caused by poor hygiene.

Speaking at a media parley, the General Manager, West Africa, Reckitt Benckiser, Mr. Rahul Murgai, said “as Reckitt Benckiser, makers of Dettol, our global vision is to have a world where people are healthier and live better. In achieving this, we will continue to make a difference by giving people innovative solutions for healthier lives and happier homes.”

According to him, Dettol has been at the forefront of providing health and hygiene messages via its products and initiatives to Nigeria for the last 50 years.

‘‘Keeping in line with the spirit of our vision and heritage in Nigeria, we initiated our MOMentum campaign in 2014; a pledge to save 10 million lives helping Nigeria reach its Millennium Development Goals in terms of reducing infant mortality rate. As the next step to our commitment to improving the awareness of best hygiene practices in Nigeria, we are delighted to launch today our new Give Life A Hand campaign in Nigeria”, he added.

While shedding light on Dettol’s involvement in the Global Handwashing Day Initiative, Marketing Director, West Africa, Reckitt Benckiser, Mr. Oguzhan Silivrili, said the campaign has been carefully conceptualised to amplify the key message of this year’s Global Handwashing Day, with the theme ‘Choose handwashing, choose health’.

‘‘According to a consumer study, regular handwashing is only limited with 4% in Nigeria.  Regular handwashing is the first line of defence from preventable diseases like Diarrhea, to the latest menace of Ebola Virus Disease. If we want to protect our children from getting sick, the first thing to do is to educate them about washing their hands properly.”

“Promoted on a wide enough scale, handwashing with soap can be thought of as a ‘do-it-yourself’ vaccine because it is easy, effective, and affordable. Ingraining the habit of handwashing could save more lives than any single vaccine or medical intervention. A vast change tilting towards handwashing behaviour is therefore critical to meeting the Millennium Development Goal of reducing two-third of deaths among children under the age of five by 2015”, Silivrili added.

Silivrili continued that Give Life A Hand campaign will be specifically leveraged through the social media platforms to intensify the education of many more Nigerian children on healthy hand washing habits via the Hashtag #handfie.

Representative of the Global Hygiene Council, Dr. Nneoma Idika while giving her speech at the unveiling of the Dettol Global Campaign charged that good hand hygiene practices be imbibed as it is a sure way to live healthy and save lives.

‘Handwashing is the most effective and inexpensive way to prevent diarrhea and acute respiratory infections, which claim the lives of millions of children every year. This is why the culture of handwashing with soap like Dettol soap be embraced’ Dr. Nneoma stated.

In the same vein, Dettol Marketing Manager, West Africa, Reckitt Benckiser, Ahmed Wahap Shah, said Dettol has been already running mass consumer education programmes to educate the moms and their kids about the handwashing habits. These include the New Mom Programme where five million mums have been reached since 2006 by teaching them good hygiene habits for themselves and their new born babies.

Through the Health on Wheels Programme, he revealed that another 150,000 families have been reached via the Mobile Clinic activation while almost a million children have been reached this year across schools in Nigeria via the School Hand Hygiene Programme. He said a total of three million children had been reached since the programme started in 2010.

‘‘Give Life A Hand campaign will be an add-on to the existing programmes to reach out millions more through the power of Digital’’, Ahmed stated.

‘‘For every #handfie shared via social media platforms, Dettol pledges to educate a child in Nigeria on healthy handwashing habits. The more #handfie shared, the more kids will be educated. The process is open to everyone and simple as taking a picture of clean hand(s), and upload on Twitter, Facebook and/or Instagram using the Hashtag #handfie’’, he said

Dettol, the world’s number one antiseptic brand is renowned for protecting millions of families from germs globally and in Nigeria. With its passion and commitment to health and hygiene, the Give Life a Hand Campaign will further go a long way in improving the hand hygiene situation of millions of household in Nigeria and significantly help to reduce death arising from preventable diseases.

Lending their voices to the Campaign, Nollywood stars like Patience Ozokwor, Omoni Oboli were at the media parley to amplify the message of Handwashing with soap and show their support for Dettol.