Hygiene product brand Dettol has donated antiseptic liquid and antibacterial soap to Kano state government to be distributed to 50,000 households.
It comes as the state ramps up its battle against the coronavirus pandemic. Since the outbreak reached the state, 427 people have tested positive for the virus, 13 have died and six have recovered.
In weeks before the outbreak started in Kano, at least 150 people were reported to have died in three days, sparking reports of mass death and burials that grabbed the country’s attention.
The state government has asked the federal government for N15 billion to aid its Covid-19 response—to increase testing and treatment capacities, and fund palliative measures.
Dettol says its hygiene products will be used to assist the “most vulnerable groups within the state as they work to contain the spread of the COVID-19 disease.”
Kano government says the 50,000 households will be drawn from the “poorest of the poor” across all 44 council areas. But it will begin with the eight council areas that make up the Kano metropolis.
Subcommittees in the council wards will oversee distribution of the hygiene products, said the Mohammed Bello, chairman of the Kano State Fund Raising Committee, during the presentation of the hygiene products to Kano.
The donation comes after previous donation of at least 12,000 units of hygiene products to Lagos and Ogun amidst the coronavirus pandemic.
Dayanand Sriram, general manager of Reckitt Benckiser Health Nigeria, the Dettol parent company, said the firm has a “critical role to play in promoting hygiene in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria.
“We are committed to enhancing personal hygiene through the provision of products which can break the chain of infection.
“Simple steps such as frequent hand washing will aid efforts of the Federal Ministry of Health and the NCDC to curb the rapid spread of the virus. We will continue to support the Federal and State Governments, as well as the health authorities’ efforts in the fight against COVID-19.”
