Sometimes we do not realize that it is the
smallest of things that tend to bring us down. Who knew Diarrhea was such a
leading cause of so many deaths in our country? Why should such a staggering
number of children and people suffer due to something that is so incredibly
easy to avoid! Find out all you need to be about the great work being done to
curb Diarrhea below J
Reckitt Benckiser
(RB), manufacturers of Dettol, and Plan International Pakistan, a
developmental sector organization, have collaborated to design and test a new
approach to reduce the incidence of diarrhoea amongst under-five children by
improving the health, hygiene and sanitation conditions. Today, December 8,
2015 RB and Plan have jointly launched an innovative behaviour changing
campaign, “Save a Child a Minute” in Pakistan. The vision is to stop deaths
from diarrhoea by empowering women and creating wealth for local communities.
Alarmingly,
diarrhoea is the second leading cause of deaths among under-five children. It
kills 53,000 children annually, in Pakistan (PDHS 2013). Research also suggests
that children who suffer two to three diarrhoeal episodes and survive diarrhoea
in the initial two years of their life are vulnerable to malnutrition.
Representatives from the government and Planning and Development Commission were quoted as saying:
“This is a
brilliant and innovative initiative towards eradicating diarrhoea and a
stepping stone for public-private partnerships to improve health conditions and
empower local communities. The best part is that it is in line with the
government vision project 2025. Currently the government is collaborating for
the pilot, it can further look into jointly upscaling the campaign at a
national level.”
Rashid Javed,
Country Director Plan International Pakistan with his remarks:
“Based on our
experience of Sanitation Marketing we are now moving forward to test a new
model of women entrepreneurship. The model is based on helping communities to
adopt improved hygiene behaviours and sustaining them through a sustainable
supply chain. Establishing a system of supply and demand and linking it with
women entrepreneur/Women hygienist is an idea which will ultimately help these
women to earn their livelihood while helping their communities to promote
health by adopting improved behaviours for water, sanitation and hygiene.”
Shahzeb Mehmood,
CEO RB Pakistan highlighted the key points of the project, during his speech he
stated:
“RB has always
aimed to provide healthier homes and happier lives through trusted brands such
as Dettol, Mortein, Harpic and many more. This global initiative simultaneously
being run in Pakistan, Nigeria and India seeks to eradicate diarrhoea and
improve general health and hygiene of the low-income consumers by habit change.
Through global research and technology, RB designed a low-cost antibacterial
soap under the Dettol brand, a complete new formulation specifically for this
purpose. The aim is to interactively educate consumers about health and
hygiene, provide them with affordable health and sanitary solutions (by RB and
other private companies such as Shan Foods, Searle, Peak Freans and Santex) and
in the process empower local women who will sell these products door-to-door.”
For the next 6
months, in the pilot phase of the campaign, RB and Plan will cover 600
households in Dhori, a village in Sargodha. Based on the learnings from this
pilot, “Save a Child a Minute” will then be scaled up nationally by RB and Plan
in close coordination with the federal and provincial government to support the
Government’s Vision 2025 project.
About RB
RB is the world’s leading consumer health and hygiene company with
operations in over 60 countries. With a purpose of delivering innovative
solutions for healthier lives and happier homes. Today it is the global No. 1
or No. 2 in the majority of its fast-growing categories, driven exceptional
innovation. Its health, hygiene and home portfolio is led by global Powerbrands
including Dettol, Mortein, Harpic, Veet, Gaviscon and many more. RB is set to
redefine the world of consumer health and hygiene with exceptional employees
committing to highest quality standards.
