Funke visits schools, hospitals to get 20m clean hands

Nollywood actress, Funke Akindele-Bello, popularly known for the TV show, Jenifa, has started a series of hospital and school visits to educate new mothers and children on health and hygiene.

The visits are part of the Clean Naija Initiative by household products maker, Dettol, which has Akindele-Bello as a brand ambassador.

The initiative’s goal is to get 20 million clean hands by 2020.

A new mother herself, she said she is “personally championing the promotion of proper personal hygiene in Nigeria.”

“This is possible because, Dettol has products such as antiseptic liquid, anti-bacterial soap and hand sanitizer which will be instrumental to the achievement of our mandate.”

Brand manager for purposeful marketing at the parent company Reckitt Benckiser, Cassandra Uzo-Ogbugh, cited a UNICEF report indicating an estimated 150,000 children under the age of five years die annually from diarrhoea related diseases, which could have easily been prevented.

With the brand’s hygiene education programme, “we strongly believe that with sensitisation and education on the importance of proper hand and personal hygiene these statistics will be greatly reduced.”

Uzo-Ogbugh said the Clean Naija campaign aims to create awareness, educate and drive behavioural change to achieve a cleaner and healthier Nigeria through the ‘Dettol’s New Mums and School Hygiene’ programmes.

Akindele-Bello was unveiled as Dettol’s brand ambassador in April 2019 to serve as a role model, encouraging mothers, children and other Nigerians to imbibe the culture of hand-washing and personal hygiene.