SAVE A CHILD A MINUTE - Reckitt Benckiser & Plan International joined hands to eradicate Diarrhea!

 I recently got an opportunity to attend the launch of the project 'HOPE' at Serena Hotel, Islamabad. The project was initiated with collaboration of Reckitt Benckiser Pakistan and Plan International and the aim was to create awareness about the causes of Diarrhea and developing an action plan to eradicate this disease which is killing around 53000 children under five every year out of which 25 million cases reported annually in Pakistan alone.

         Nearly one in 10 child deaths is due to diarrhea caused by poor home environments, inadequate personal hygiene and lack of access to essential services such as healthcare, sanitation, clean water and basic nutrition.Save a child a minute campaign will combine RB's global expertise in hygiene and health, innovative technology and consumer communication capabilities with Plan International expertise in supporting children to access their right to education, healthcare and nutrition. This will help to bring RB and Plan a step closer to achieving their mutual vision where no child under the age of five dies from preventable disease such as diarrhea.

Event Highlights :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.”

Dr. Phyllis Azeem, MNA National Assembly was the chief guest at the launch event of the campaign, during her speech she stated:“This is a brilliant and innovative initiative towards eradicating diarrhea 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.”

Action Plan: 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 Pakistan: 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.

The SAVE A CHILD A MINUTE is one of its kind campaign ,which is based on the fact that educating the mothers is the sole way to fight the demon of diarrheal disease in neonates and children.This campaign will empower women and therbey local low income communities.Such initiatives are truly commendable as they lead to a better health conditions and a healthy nation. A nation can only survive through tough times when its youth is healthy and competitive. 

I hope you find this post helpful! x

Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post.I was paid for this review but this does not influence my opinion at all. My opinion is 100% genuine and honest to my readers.The images are my own.