The Zeal To Heal

Several infectious diseases can be spread by contaminated hands. Hand washing, also referred to as hand hygiene, is the basic requirement for an individual to lead a healthy life. The simple act of washing hands properly and regularly can help prevent the spread of many diseases, especially among children, and is the basic form of prevention against any infection. Hand washing with soap consistently at critical moments during the day prevents the spread of diseases like diarrhoea and cholera. Sustaining a hand-wash practice is very important, and consistency leads to efficiency. Studies have shown that improved hand-washing practices can lead to improvements in growth in children under the age of five. Therefore, irrespective of whether one is in India or anywhere else in the world, the importance of inculcating a hand-wash culture is a top priority for everyone.

Hand-wash has always been the focus of hygiene conversations for Dettol. Through each initiative, our purpose has been to educate people with the right knowledge that empowers them to take their health in their own hands. Our Dettol School Hygiene Education Curriculum is the first big step towards making future generations healthy, with the program focusing on primarily hand hygiene and inculcating the correct hand-wash practices. RB has always stood for building healthier and happier communities, and we believe this can be achieved by investing in behavioral change through proper audio and video nudges so that people’s perception change, and sparking conversations around the issue begin. The success of the Curriculum has been able to bring down the rate of diarrhoea cases amongst school children, and helped improved attendance rates. Ultimately kids’ learning outcomes are impacted due to better health and hygiene leading to a healthy nation.

While some important steps have been taken in the right direction by multiple stakeholders, including the government and responsible organizations like RB, there is a long road ahead. By the way of Dettol Hygiene Impact bonds we will bring more rigor to our investments, and work on impact funding models to get concrete results in time-bound fashion. I have been associated with RB ever since I graduated more than 25 years ago, and it has been a great journey so far. At RB, we make a conscious effort to drive behavior change for the community, and have been encouraging people to adopt better health and hygiene habits. As a socially responsible company, it becomes extremely important for us to drive the overall health agenda of India, while being able to make a difference in the lives of thousands of people.

Our focused efforts to drive the importance of hand wash have given me the privilege of working with children across schools in India. Their zeal to drive change in the society is very different from what we see amongst adults. If you see examples of how children motivate others to stand up for causes, and make a difference, you will realize that they are much more committed to what they believe is good for the world. It is extremely satisfying to see children ready to take the message forward, and the future looks promising.

RB is more than a company. It’s a community in which people draw on each other’s skills, and work together to build healthier lives and happier homes. Our purpose has been to educate people with the right knowledge that empowers them to take their health in their own hands. Through our continuous efforts towards achieving this, we have worked with multiple communities at grassroots levels. These visits make you take a step back and assess the privilege one lives with.

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