Unilever Nigeria Plc on Thursday launched a global health campaign aimed at improving the hygiene of at least 2 million Nigerian children under age 5 before 2020.
The campaign tagged “Help A Child Reach 5” aims at eradicating preventable deaths from diseases and illnesses like diarrhoea and pneumonia by teaching lifesaving handwashing habits with Lifebuoy, Unilever’s health soap brand.
Speaking at the event in Lagos, Osato Evbuomwan, Category Manager, Skin Cleansing, Unilever Nigeria Plc said: “Private corporations can play important roles in impacting the survival of the society, and through the Lifebuoy brand, Unilever is absolutely committed to changing the hygiene behaviour of a billion people worldwide by 2020. With strategic partnerships, we can expand programmes to drive lasting and impactful change within Nigerian communities”.
In his keynote speech, Deputy Director, Co-curricular Department, Lagos State Ministry of Education, Ogunlamoye Ayodeji said, “As a nation, our growth depends solely on the education of the majority of our people but not many are willing to apply their knowledge for benefit of the nation. Since we recognise this challenge, the state government is working in line with Lifebuoy’s ‘Help a Child Reach 5’ initiative – an endeavour which addresses the mortality rate of children under 5”.
The deputy director also commended Unilever and Lifebuoy for the initiative and pledged the government’s support and commitment inline with the state policy on public/private participation.
Also speaking, Nigerian Afro-pop singer and Lifebuoy’s brand ambassador, Omawumi Megbele said, “As a mother of two young children, I simply cannot imagine losing them to preventable infections. It is a shame that hundreds of thousands of Nigerian children die before their fifth birthday each year, so we have to take further steps to address this issue. I’m thrilled to partner with Lifebuoy to empower parents with the lifesaving message of handwashing with soap. I look forward to lending my voice and influence to advance this wonderful effort”.
The Country Director, Sightsavers, Dr. Sunday Isiyaku, further explained that classrooms are important touch points to empower Nigerian youths, especially as a wide-reaching platform to bring hygiene practices acquired in school back to their communities – a critical step to ending the spread of neglected tropical diseases like blindness-causing trachoma.
Similarly, the CEO, Wellbeing Foundation Africa, Mrs Amy Oyekunle, noted that newborn babies are vulnerable to infections, “which is why ensuring access and availability to skilled care under hygienic conditions is imperative.”
“Along with Lifebuoy, we seek to empower mothers in Nigeria through our MamaCare classes, led by qualified midwives, to help make handwashing with soap an everyday habit early on. This partnership supports our global campaign, led by our Founder-President, Her Excellency, Mrs Toyin Saraki, to ensure mothers and their babies survive and thrive,” Mrs. Oyekunle said.
The event also featured the relaunch of Lifebuoy soap in Nigeria – an anti-bacterial soap which promotes healthy hygiene habits and aims to impact the handwashing behaviour of over one billion people by 2020. It will be recalled that since 2010, Lifebuoy has impacted the handwashing behaviour of 426 million people across 30 countries.
Lifebuoy’s “Help a Child Reach 5” global campaign is also expected to advance critical hygiene interventions such as handwashing with soap to address child mortality due to preventable diseases in Nigeria.
According to recent health statistics, more than 215,000 children under the age of five in Nigeria die due to preventable infections like diarrhoea and pneumonia each year– the highest across Africa.
