New Delhi: Self-care significantly impacts the mental, physical, and emotional well-being of mothers and children. It is not just their nutritional aspect that needs to be taken care of, but factors such as diet diversity, physical activity, and personal care and hygiene are equally essential for their overall well-being, all which are less available to the women and children of the rural and tribal communities of India. With the aim of improving self-care practices among mothers and children under five years of age, Reckitt and PLAN India has come up with a ‘Self-Care’ programme.
Reckitt’s ‘Self-Care Kit’ for mothers and children
Also Read: A Day Will Come When There Will Be No Petrol And Diesel Pumps: Nitin Gadkari
The Ideation Behind Reckitt’s Self Care Programme
The project is based on the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) self-care guidelines, WHO 7-point plan on comprehensive Diarrhoea control and The Integrated Global Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of Pneumonia and Diarrhoea (GAPPD) by WHO and UNICEF.
Objective of The Self Care Programme
The Self-care programme strategy is built on the four objectives of access, coverage, quality and safety. The programme focuses on the mental and physical well-being of women and children of the rural and tribal communities of Gujarat, Maharashtra and Rajasthan.
The programme will address issues such as Anaemia, malnutrition and promote antenatal check-ups, birth spacing, and Yoga practices among women and children. Besides, it seeks to educate and counsel new mothers on hygiene and health, handwashing, clean water consumption, and safe waste disposal to significantly reduce the risk of infectious diseases and promote overall well-being.
Under the programme, Reckitt and PLAN India has launched a ‘Self-Care Kit’, a box full of essential items that are needed for women and children.
Here’s a look at what the kit contains for mothers and children:
- The kit has supplements like iron, vitamin C and folic acid tablets for antenatal care and to reduce the risk of low birth weight, and Anaemia among women.
- It includes Dettol sanitiser, liquid soap and bar soap, to promote hygiene practices and hence reduce the risk of spreading infections.
- The kit contains gloves to protect hands from blood and body fluids, including respiratory secretions among women and children.
- For children, the kit has strips of zinc supplements and Oral Rehydration Salts (ORS) sachet, to make sure they are well hydrated and rejuvenated.The Self Care kit also has a baby blanket.
- A thermometer and a pulse oximeter to monitor oxygen in a child’s blood and keep a check on the temperature, like in case of Diarrhoea.
Dettol sanitiser, liquid soap and bar soap,
Strips of zinc supplements and Oral Rehydration Salts (ORS) sachet
Supplements like iron, vitamin C and folic acid tablets for antenatal care
Gloves to protect hands from blood and body fluids, including respiratory secretions
Baby blanket to keep children warm and safe
It also has a pulse oximeter to monitor and measure oxygen in a child’s blood
Thermometer to keep a check on the temperature, like in the case of Diarrhoea.
Also Read: Cleanliness Is Next To Godliness: President Droupadi Murmu Highlights The Importance Of Cleanliness
Talking about the Self-Care Programme, Ravi Bhatnagar, Director, External Affairs & Partnerships, SOA, Reckitt, said,
Reckitt’s mission is to raise self-care awareness, empower new mothers, promote healthy behaviours, encourage community engagement and address key diseases of young children. And we are doing it with several initiatives like Self-Care Kit.
Dr Komal Goswami, Chief of Party, PLAN India said,
Women focus on the health and hygiene of their family, but cut themselves out of care. It is essential that we lay our focus on making them aware about self-care. And this is where Self-Care Kit comes in handy.
Watch: We Are In The Business Of Behaviour Change: Gaurav Jain About Banega Swasth India
NDTV – Dettol have been working towards a clean and healthy India since 2014 via the Banega Swachh India initiative, which is helmed by Campaign Ambassador Amitabh Bachchan. 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 – theLGBTQ population,indigenous people, India’s different tribes, ethnic and linguistic minorities, people with disabilities, migrants, geographically remote populations, gender and sexual minorities. In wake of the currentCOVID-19 pandemic, the need for WASH (Water,SanitationandHygiene) 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, fightmalnutrition, mental wellbeing, 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 likeair pollution,waste management,plastic ban,manual scavengingand sanitation workers andmenstrual hygiene. Banega Swasth India will also be taking forward the dream of Swasth Bharat, the campaign feels that only a Swachh or clean India wheretoiletsare used andopen defecation free (ODF)status achieved as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan launched byPrime Minister Narendra Modiin 2014, can eradicate diseases like diahorrea and the country can become a Swasth or healthy India.
