Dettol’s Mission for Health delivers hygiene education to over 100,000 Lankans

During 2014, Dettol, a trusted family protection brand in Sri Lanka created awareness among 32,500 school children, 35,000 new mothers, 2,100 midwives and 1,500 food handlers on good health and hygiene practices as part of its ‘Mission for Health’ campaign.

The Dettol’s Mission for Health campaign commenced in January with a launch walk which saw the participation of the Health Ministry officials and leading healthcare professionals in the country. The ultimate objective of this programme was to support initiatives to make Sri Lanka a germ-free nation.

In keeping with Dettol’s pledge to educate Sri Lankan school children, Dettol instilled healthy handwashing habits among 32,500 school children in the Colombo and Anuradhapura Districts. The children participated in interactive games and other educational programmes on hand hygiene. They were given the opportunity to learn about the correct ways of handwashing and the importance of washing their hands. The sessions were conducted by doctors and public health inspectors with the assistance of the MOH.

To expand the reach of Dettol’s school hand washing programme, the germ protection expert partnered with the Sri Lanka Scouts Association, Colombo District Branch to conduct an innovative health campaign to promote hand hygiene among school children throughout the country.

The health campaign was conducted at the International Jamboree held in Madampe. Over 3,500 scouts and girl guides representing all provinces of Sri Lanka were trained by doctors and public health inspectors on good hygiene practices and presented with the award ‘Dettol Hygiene Heroes’. These new Dettol Hygiene Hero Ambassadors were encouraged to pass the message of clean hands to peers in their respective schools. Students are awarded Gold, Silver or Bronze medals based on the number of students they educated.

Dettol organised maternal clinics with the assistance of regional MOH and medical professionals to provide 35,000 new mothers with facts, figures, tips and tools that would help them make informed choices on how to protect them and their new-born children from germs and infections.

The programme was conducted in Western, North-Central and North-Western Provinces. Furthermore, Dettol successfully trained 2,100 midwives in the Western and Southern Provinces on safe and hygienic techniques used during child birth that will prevent infections and contribute to low maternal and infant mortality rate in Sri Lanka. The programme will expand to the North, Central and Sabaragamuwa Provinces in 2015.

In keeping with the promise of ‘everyday protection’, Dettol collaborated with the organisers of the Presidental Dansala during Vesak to provide hygiene solutions such as handwashing facilities to Dansal visitors to sanitize their hands before they enjoyed their meal. This was the highest-rated Dansala in the country which catered to more than 15,000 people per day.