UNAIDS partners Reckitt Benckiser to support people living with HIV across Africa

In the wake of the Coronavirus ( COVID- 19) pandemic, UNAIDS and Reckitt Benckiser Group plc (RB) are joining forces together to help protect people living with HIV across Africa. The partnership hopes to work through the UNAIDS network to reach approximately 220,000 individuals across 22 countries in Africa including Nigeria, with a Hygiene pack that contains three-month supply of Dettol bar soap and JIK bleach with market value of over N800 million.

Dayanand Sriram, Reckitt Benckiser, Nigeria general manager, Health, said the initiative to distribute the hygiene packs was part of its ‘Fight for Access Fund’, which aims to improve access to health, hygiene and nutrition for all. “Reckitt Benckiser’s purpose is to protect, heal and nurture in the relentless pursuit of a cleaner, healthier world,” Sriram said.

According to Sriram, for years, RB, through its brand ‘ Dettol’, has supported government’s effort in promoting a healthy lifestyle through its School Hygiene Programme that educates over 300,000 school children annually and the New Mums’ Programme that supports over 200,000 pregnant women annually to adopt healthy habits.

“We want and need to play our part in stemming the effects of the pandemic and we can do this by providing access to our high-quality hygiene products – 180,000 bars of Dettol soap. By partnering with UNAIDS, we can reach specific groups of people who need them the most,” Sriram further said.

“UNAIDS Nigeria commends Reckitt Benckiser (RB) for its donation and timely delivery of hygiene kits to help improve the personal hygiene of members of Nigeria’s networks of people living with HIV at this turbulent time of COVID-19 pandemic. We appreciate this demonstration of solidarity from RB, and we encourage other private sector entities and philanthropists to consider doing the same with all vulnerable populations,” Erasmus Morah, UNAIDS country director for Nigeria, said.

Asif Hashimi, the country manager, Hygiene, for Reckitt Benckiser Nigeria, also said brands like JIK have a critical role to play in promoting hygiene in the fight against health pandemics in Africa, especially Nigeria.

“JIK has strong heritage and roots in Africa for providing laundry and surface disinfection for years. In these pressing times by partnering with UNAIDS we will donate 60,000 units of JIK bleach bottles to ensure world class disinfection is accessible to the most vulnerable in society,” Hashimi said.