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Every year, more than 53,000 children under the
age of 5 years die due to illness caused by poor water and
sanitation like diarrhoea (UNICEF Pakistan), and according to the
Center of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), it is estimated that
washing hands with soap and water could reduce diarrheal
disease-associated deaths by up to 50%. Then why there isn’t enough
emphasis on promoting hand washing as an essential practice
throughout the day?
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Dettol has been constantly working towards bringing change in health and
hygiene habits of the people of Pakistan. Every year Dettol conducts a
school program on hygiene and cleanliness with over 2 million school
going children teaching them the importance of hand hygiene, so they
become the flag bearers of this message.
This year, to commemorate Global Hand washing Day, Dettol launched a new
DVC that emphasizes on hand washing as an often-forgotten habit
especially after doing chores that can contract harmful germs and
bacteria. The main protagonist in the film is a school going kid who
adorably teaches everyone around him the importance of hand washing.
“It is extremely important to instill healthy habits at an early age and
educate our children regarding their well-being,” said Humayun Farooq,
Director Marketing – Health, Reckitt Benckiser Pakistan Limited (RB) –
makers of Dettol. He added that “We at Dettol strongly believe that kids
have a very entrepreneurial nature, where they will find creative ways
to spread a message if it has been registered correctly in their minds.
Since kids respond to stories better, this year we have launched a
special hand wash campaign as well which narrates the story of a boy
called Ahmed who articulates the message of hand washing in his own
creative way to teach others. We believe in clean hands for all and thus
through this campaign we want to reach out to even those kids who we
cannot connect with physically.”
Many food borne diseases outbreak and gain virality due to contaminated
hands. Suitable hand washing practices can reduce the risk of these
diseases as well other infections if we know when to wash our hands and
how. Washing hands before, during, and after preparing food, before
eating food, before and after caring for someone who is sick, after
using the toilet, after changing diapers or cleaning up a child who has
used the toilet, after blowing your nose, coughing, after touching
garbage are just some occasions where you must ensure that you wash your
hands.
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