2021 Global Handwashing Day: Dettol & the Federal Ministry of Water Resources partnered to Highlight the Need to Wash Our Hands

In its continuous efforts to increase top-of-mind awareness around hand hygiene habits, and the importance of regular handwashing with soap, Dettol Nigeria partnered with the Federal Ministry of Water Resources to commemorate 2021 Global Handwashing Day to highlight the critical role hand hygiene plays in reducing disease transmission as the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic continues.

The Global Handwashing Day is an international advocacy day dedicated to increasing public awareness and understanding about the importance of washing hands with soap, as an effective way of preventing diseases.

L-R: Anuoluwa Odusanya, Assistant Brand Manager, Dettol; Taiwo Olutoye, Student of LEA Wuse School, Zone 2 Abuja; Didi Walson-Jack Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Water Resources (FMWR); Master Praise Ikefe, Student, LEA Wuse School, Zone 2 Abuja; and Cassandra Uzo- Ogbugh, External Communication & Partnership Lead, Reckitt Sub-Saharan Africa, at the 2021 Global Hand Washing Day in Abuja.

At the commemoration event in Abuja, with the theme “Our Future is at Hand – Let’s Move Forward Together”, the Minister of Water Resources, Engr. Sulaimon Hussein Adamu represented by the Permanent Secretary Didi Walson-Jack while commending the stakeholders for their support said,

“Sustenance of sanitation and hygiene in Nigeria is vehemently important and so therefore it is important to create awareness to the issue of sanitation and hygiene.”

“Handwashing saves more lives, it reduces the toll of deaths caused by poor hygiene especially for children and admonishes parents to take up responsibilities in handwashing,” she added.

While speaking on the role and support of Dettol, The General Manager, Reckitt Sub-Saharan Africa, Akbar Ali Shah, stated,

“As the world marks the 2021 Global Handwashing Day, Dettol remains committed to ensuring handwashing gets the needed attention it deserves. We believe that it’s important to inculcate hand hygiene habits among citizens as a simple act of proper handwashing with soap has been proven to reduce risks of diseases, particularly respiratory and intestinal, by 20%-25%.

He stressed further that “Dettol understands the importance of good hygiene and sanitation in the lives of Nigerians, it is one of the reasons we launched the Dettol Clean Naija Initiative in 2019 before there was a pandemic, and in line with its objectives, we have also recently launched a School Hygiene Curriculum which is an interactive and engaging hygiene lessons aimed at children in primary schools so as to create sustainable behavioral change at a young age. The curriculum is currently being deployed in schools in Lagos State, with plans to extend to other States in 2023”.

Reckitt Nigeria, through the Dettol brand, has over the years developed several programs committed to tackling public health and hygiene issues. These include the School Hygiene Program, the New Mum’s Program, the #DettolHandwashChallenge through which they have educated over Millions of Nigerians over the past 6 years.

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