New Delhi: Reckitt, world’s leading consumer health and hygiene company, under its Self Care for New Moms and Kids under 5 initiative, is proud to align with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare’s ‘Stop Diarrhoea Campaign’. Launched last week by Hon’ble Shri J.P. Nadda, Union Minister, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India, the campaign aims to attain zero child deaths due to Diarrhoea in India.
In many states, Diarrhoeal illnesses in childhood remains a leading cause of death for children under the age of five years, accounting for 5.8% of all under-five fatalities nationwide (Cause of Death Statistics 2017-19, Sample Registration System of Registrar General of India). Every year, Diarrhoea causes about 50,000 deaths in children in the nation. According to NFHS 5, the prevalence of Diarrhoea in children under five is 7.3%; while only 60.6% received ORS and 30.5% received zinc. In 68.9% of cases, a medical facility or provider was consulted.
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To address this issue, Reckitt in partnership with Plan India through the initiative – Self Care for new moms and kids under five, is promoting the use of ORS and Zinc while enhancing hygiene and sanitation through the six steps of handwashing for children under the age of five. The two-month campaign will concentrate on engaging and educating community members across the states of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan through highlighting the importance of handwashing, conducting ORS demonstrations, community involvement, proactive measures, and distribution of essential diarrhoea kits.
Commenting on the campaign, Gaurav Jain, Executive Vice President, Reckitt – South Asia said,
At Reckitt, we are proud to have worked closely with the Government of India towards creating a ‘Swachh and Swasth’ India across our programs. Over the last 10 years, we have engaged students, teachers, parents, and communities to improve their overall health and well-being, successfully impacting lives of millions of children across India. To further strengthen our commitment, we are delighted to align with the Stop Diarrhoea Campaign, launched by the Government of India and work towards achieving zero child deaths due to Diarrhoeal illnesses. We look forward to the campaign and making progress together to build a healthier nation.
Commenting on the campaign, Ravi Bhatnagar, Director, External Affairs and Partnerships, SOA, Reckitt said,
Diarrhoea continues to be the key cause to death of children under five years of age in many states. At Reckitt, we are committed to the holistic welfare of children, especially with poor socio-economic backgrounds. We are proud to align with the Government of India’s Stop Diarrhoea Campaign. Through this campaign, we aim to further our commitment of achieving zero child deaths caused due to Diarrhoea by raising awareness about the use of ORS and Zinc and adopting proactive health measures for Diarrhoea prevention. This step will further enhance our determination to build a healthier future for young children of our country.
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Mohammed Asif, Executive Director, Plan International (India Chapter), stated,
Through the convergence of our ‘Self Care for New Moms and Kids Under 5’ initiative with the ‘STOP Diarrhoea’ Campaign, we are proud to join forces with the Government to eliminate diarrhoea. We hold a shared mission to promote hygiene, raise awareness about the use of ORS and Zinc for diarrhoea prevention, and engage mothers and communities in proactive health measures. Together, we are taking significant strides towards creating a healthier tomorrow for all.
Over the tenure of two-months of the campaign, Self Care for new moms and kids under five will focus on establishing advocacy and communication at district level across target states by generating awareness via capacity-building sensitization sessions of frontline workers, Nukkad Natak, rallies, posters and IEC materials. To maximize the reach of the campaign and impart knowledge around Diarrhoea and its causes, various activations will be introduced based on intersectoral convergence, especially to target blocks in rural areas. It involves all line departments such as WCD, Drinking Water and Sanitation, PHED, Rural Development, Panchayati Raj and Education, and development partners. The campaign brings together 4 thronged approach of – ORS and zinc promotion, strengthening facilities, advocacy and communication and intersectoral convergence through members from the Indian Academy of Paediatrics (lAP), Indian Medical Association (IMA), NGOs, and CSOs to achieve the goal.
The campaign was kicked off with an inaugural event in Gir Somnath, Gujarat in collaboration with district administration, in the presence of District Collector Shri D D Jadeja, Resident Additional Collector Mr Rajesh Aal, Chief District Health officer Dr Arun Roy and other officials from the Health Department. District Collector, Gir Somnath, Shri D D Jadeja emphasised the importance of the campaign, recalling the Covid period and noting that while Covid has taught us about hand washing, there is still a need to focus on hygiene as a part of daily life. Similar campaigns and community events are lined up in the intervention states to support Government of India’s initiative.
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During the run of the campaign, community-level meetings on WHO’s 7-point plan for mothers will be organized, Diarrhoea kits will be distributed, and key focus will be on raising awareness through utilizing audio-video tools to educate the audience on Diarrhoea management. These steps will further strengthen the existing interventions of the campaign and help eradicate Diarrhoea from the root level.
About Reckitt
Reckitt* exists to protect, heal and nurture in the pursuit of a cleaner, healthier world. We believe that access to the highest-quality hygiene, wellness and nourishment is a right, not a privilege.
Reckitt is the company behind some of the world’s most recognisable and trusted consumer brands in hygiene, health and nutrition, including Air Wick, Calgon, Cillit Bang, Clearasil, Dettol, Durex, Enfamil, Finish, Gaviscon, Harpic, Lysol, Mortein, Mucinex, Nurofen, Nutramigen, Strepsils, Vanish, Veet, Woolite and more.
Every day, around 30 million Reckitt products are bought globally. We always put consumers and people first, seek out new opportunities, strive for excellence in all that we do and build shared success with all our partners. We aim to do the right thing, always.
We are a diverse global team of c. 40,000 colleagues. We draw on our collective energy to meet our ambitions of purpose-led brands, a healthier planet and a fairer society. Find out more, or get in touch with us at www.reckitt.com.
*Reckitt is the trading name of the Reckitt Benckiser group of companies.
About Plan India
Plan International (India Chapter), also referred to as Plan India, is an Indian registered not-for-profit organisation that is constantly striving to advance welfare and development for children and equality for all girls and women in India. Through its grassroots social development work, Plan India seeks to create lasting impact in the lives of poor and vulnerable children, their families and communities, by gender transformative child-centered community development.
Since 1996, Plan India has improved the lives of millions of children and young people by enabling them to access and benefit from the safety nets and schemes of the government for child protection, quality education and healthcare services, healthy environment, livelihood opportunities and participation in community development.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
NDTV – Dettol have been working towards a clean and healthy India since 2014 via the Banega Swachh India initiative, which in its Season 10 is helmed by Campaign Ambassador Ayushmann Khurrana. The campaign aims to highlight the inter-dependency of humans and the environment, and of humans on one another with the focus on One Health, One Planet, One Future – Leaving No One Behind. It stresses on the need to take care of, and consider, everyone’s health in India – especially vulnerable communities – the LGBTQ population, indigenous people, India’s different tribes, ethnic and linguistic minorities, people with disabilities, migrants, geographically remote populations, gender and sexual minorities. In a world post COVID-19 pandemic, the need for WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) is reaffirmed as handwashing is one of the ways to prevent Coronavirus infection and other diseases. The campaign will continue to raise awareness on the same along with focussing on the importance of nutrition and healthcare for women and children, fight malnutrition, mental well-being, self-care, science and health, adolescent health & gender awareness. Along with the health of people, the campaign has realised the need to also take care of the health of the eco-system. Our environment is fragile due to human activity, which is not only over-exploiting available resources, but also generating immense pollution as a result of using and extracting those resources. The imbalance has also led to immense biodiversity loss that has caused one of the biggest threats to human survival – climate change. It has now been described as a “code red for humanity.” The campaign will continue to cover issues like air pollution, waste management, plastic ban, manual scavenging and sanitation workers and menstrual hygiene. Banega Swasth India will also be taking forward the dream of Swasth Bharat, the campaign feels that only a Swachh or clean India where toilets are used and open defecation free (ODF) status achieved as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014, can eradicate diseases like diahorrea and the country can become a Swasth or healthy India.
