Unilever's awareness on hygiene
Tuesday, 1 September 2009
FE Report
In bringing the message of hygiene to mass people, representatives from the world renowned Unilever brands- Lifebuoy and Pepsodent regularly visit different schools across the country where they aware children and parents of personal hygiene and how a simple act like washing hands or brushing teeth regularly can keep them healthier.
As part of such programmes, representatives of Lifebuoy recently went to one of Dhaka's top schools where, through an interactive session, they educated children about when and how they should wash their hands to stay healthier.
The children then enthusiastically participated in taking a pledge to wash hands regularly with soap by putting their handprints on a canvas. Free soaps were also distributed amongst the students to encourage them to wash hands regularly.
According to the Unilever officials, a Lifebuoy survey conducted recently amongst the mothers of urban and semi-urban areas has revealed that 80 per cent of the mothers believe that health awareness is more important in the making of a healthy nation compared to health infrastructure.
"Yet many of the respondents were not properly aware of the importance of hand washing with soap," the Unilever authority said.
"Although, turning hand washing with soap before eating and after using the toilet into an ingrained habit could save more lives than any single vaccine or medical intervention, cutting deaths from diarrhea by almost half, and deaths from acute respiratory infections by one-quarter," the authority added.
Lifebuoy has long been conducting socially driven programs with an emphasis on personal hygiene promotion in the country. In Bangladesh, Lifebuoy initiated rural activation programs, which disseminated health messages through school contacts and courtyard meetings.
"So far the activation has taken health messages directly to more than 9.5 million people in rural Bangladesh and over 5,000 schools across 9,300 villages in Bangladesh," the Unilever official informed.
In bringing the message of hygiene to mass people, representatives from the world renowned Unilever brands- Lifebuoy and Pepsodent regularly visit different schools across the country where they aware children and parents of personal hygiene and how a simple act like washing hands or brushing teeth regularly can keep them healthier.
As part of such programmes, representatives of Lifebuoy recently went to one of Dhaka's top schools where, through an interactive session, they educated children about when and how they should wash their hands to stay healthier.
The children then enthusiastically participated in taking a pledge to wash hands regularly with soap by putting their handprints on a canvas. Free soaps were also distributed amongst the students to encourage them to wash hands regularly.
According to the Unilever officials, a Lifebuoy survey conducted recently amongst the mothers of urban and semi-urban areas has revealed that 80 per cent of the mothers believe that health awareness is more important in the making of a healthy nation compared to health infrastructure.
"Yet many of the respondents were not properly aware of the importance of hand washing with soap," the Unilever authority said.
"Although, turning hand washing with soap before eating and after using the toilet into an ingrained habit could save more lives than any single vaccine or medical intervention, cutting deaths from diarrhea by almost half, and deaths from acute respiratory infections by one-quarter," the authority added.
Lifebuoy has long been conducting socially driven programs with an emphasis on personal hygiene promotion in the country. In Bangladesh, Lifebuoy initiated rural activation programs, which disseminated health messages through school contacts and courtyard meetings.
"So far the activation has taken health messages directly to more than 9.5 million people in rural Bangladesh and over 5,000 schools across 9,300 villages in Bangladesh," the Unilever official informed.