RB BSI campaign improved lives of 14 million people in six years; Aims to drive focus on ‘Clean India leads to a healthy India’

RB BSI campaign improved lives of 14 million people in six years; Aims to drive focus on ‘Clean India leads to a healthy India’

                        ~Pledged to double social investment from £10 to £20 million with an aim to touch lives of 30 million people                             and Covering 50 Percent of Aspirational Districts in India through Health, Hygiene and Nutrition Sensitive                               Interventions contributing towards India’s Efforts towards Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with                                     special emphasis on SDG 17 Partnerships. 

  • Improved the lives of 14 million people in India through several initiatives
  • Launch of COVID-19 SWASTH MANTRA “Return to School” Kit which will reach over 1 million Schools in India available in10 Key Languages across India. 
  • Made India’s’ first Gurukul “Parmarth Ashram” Rishikesh and First Madrasa “Sheikhul Alam Sabriya Chittiya”in Lucknow COVID-19 “Return to School Ready”.
  • Launch of Self-care Healthily app in Partnership with Dettol as Indiais sitting on a healthcare torpedo, and no, it is not the coronavirus. The world’s strictest lockdown crippled both routine and critical health services. India’s health infrastructure is run down at the best of times.
  • Launch of SWASTHMANTRA song by Shri Prasoon Joshi.
  • Nutrition India Programme saved 6,500 children between 0-5 years across districts of Amravati and Nandurbar in Maharashtra from malnutrition resulting in delivery Zero Mortality.
  • Dettol Hygiene impact bond to reduce cases of diarrhea amongst 2.5 million children in Uttar Pradesh in the next 3 years in partnership with EY, USAID, Jagran Pehel and PATH.
  • Hygiene school programme to focus on hygiene & sanitization measures amidst the COVID-19
  • 2 million school kids to be enrolled in a unique life skill programme spread across 7 North-Eastern states of India “Birds and Bees Talk.”

Mumbai, 6 October, 2020: Reckitt Benckiser, world’s leading consumer Health and Hygiene Company, with its flagship BSI Campaign pledges to double its social investment from £10 to £20 million to promote hygiene and health practices in the fight against the current Covid-19 pandemic. The campaign in past six has successfully improved lives of 14 million people in India. Supported by Campaign Ambassador, Amitabh Bachchan, this year the campaign is committed to encourage the Indian population to adhere to self-care practices as a driver of change for a safer tomorrow.

The pandemic, however, has enforced the paradigm shift in the entire approach towards healthcare. Health, hygiene & sanitation have come to the center-stage of people’s lives. In alignment with the National Digital Health Mission (NDHM) initiated by the PM’s Digital India movement, RB BSI will catalyze robust reforms towards enhancing health & hygiene to the last mile in the next few years. The campaign initiatives will focus on propagating better health practices, proper sanitation and adequate nutrition while protecting the environment through sustainable methods.

The campaign is also focused at providing sustainability measures keeping the current environmental conditions aggravated amidst the pandemic. With the launch of Dettol 100% recycled bottle, Dettol continues to provide the same germ protection in a handwash bottle reaching the consumers who are environmentally conscious.

Last year, the campaign transitioned from ‘Swachh to Swasth.’ The health-oriented focus of this campaign was nutrition for mother and child. With the advent of COVID-19, this year, the focus is on the three pillars: health, hygiene & environment that can together keep the world safe

  Commenting on the development, Laxman Narasimhan, CEO, RB said, “Over the last six years, Dettol Banega Swasth India has played a critical role in driving true behaviour change towards better hygiene and sanitation practices for 14 million Indians. COVID-19 has triggered the much-needed government focus on healthcare infrastructure development. It is evident that the pandemic will bring a paradigm shift in not only the way health & hygiene will be practiced, but the way it is envisioned- by the government, the industry as well as the community at large. To encourage self-care health & hygiene practices, we are launching, Healthily app for the Indian population. “

 “Our focus continues to be on propagating self-reliant methods for a safer tomorrow with the idea of- ‘training the trainer’. Equipping frontline workers, teachers, and children around preventive and primary care by utilizing enhanced digital tools and technologies will be a game changer. We have to democratize the knowledge one step at a time.” He added.

As part of behaviour change communication Initiatives, BSI plans to double the outreach of Dettol Hygiene School Programme will train over 5 million schoolteachers with a conscious focus on the ‘role of Hygiene and COVID-19 preparedness’.

Furthering the response to COVID-19, Dettol BSI will be providing the newly developed school reopening to help school provide a safe & protected environment to children. The kit not only contains the literature and guideline on preparing schools for reopening but also contains masks, sanitisers and other tools required to help children learn without the fear of COVID-19. In the first phase, this kit will benefit more than 1 million schools nation-wide.

Dettol Hygiene impact bond to reduce cases of diarrhea amongst 2.5 million children in Uttar Pradesh in the next 3 years. The programme aims to touch lives of 14 million children across 8 states in India by equipping schools with enhanced health and sanitization measures through policy advocacy and infrastructure support for better COVID-19 preparedness.

We also have the Nutrition Impact Bond; the programme in the next four years aims to reach 1,77,000 mothers of undernourished children across 1,000 villages with a target of 40% reduction in the number of children under five who are stunted, and to reduce and maintain childhood wasting to less than 5%.

Amongst other initiatives, the BSI campaign will also focus be on Adolescent Sexual Reproductive Health (ASRH) in 7 northeastern states and Safe Sex Education in the five biggest red-light areas/districts. The aim is to touch base over 1 million LGBTQ population in 23 states through a set of cross-cutting interventions that cover health interventions and mental health wellbeing, community mainstreaming and empowerment through online and offline interventions. Additionally, the comprehensive Sexuality Education program, BBT will impact lives of more than 2 million adolescent kids across seven North Eastern States.

On the Swachchataa Divas i.e. October 2, 2020, RB reiterated its commitment towards driving a healthy India at the 12-hour long Telethon, SwasthyarMantra hosted by Bollywood Actor, Amitabh Bachchan. The conversation was also stirred towards discussing:

Impact created as part of the Dettol BSI in the past six years:

Dettol Hygiene Curriculum

  • The Curriculum has brought behaviour change towards hygiene practices in 13 million school-going children across 8 states, 40 districts, 256 blocks and 6,50,000 schools with a focus on personal
  • 2% Reduction in Diarrhoea cases
    • 17 %Improvement in School Attendance
    • 250 Plus Dettol supported Schools got awarded under Swacch Vidyalaya Puraskar (Clean School Awards).

Sexual Wellbeing

  • Programme aims to reach over 1 million LGBTQ+ communities across 23 states of India.
    • Quality Services and technology for HIV/STI Self Risk Assessment, Counseling, care, and Support Mechanisms
    • Partnering with the Government of India and key LGBTQ+ Networks
  • 2 million school kids to be reached via comprehensive Sexual education programme in 7 North Eastern States of India. Comprehensive Sexual Education programme in 7 North Eastern States

Nutrition India Programme

  • Launched RB-Maharashtra Nutrition Programme in 2018, to improve the nutritional status across these villages in Nandurbar and Amravati districts 
    • BSI NIP saved 6,500 children between 0-5 years across districts of Amravati and Nandurbar in Maharashtra from malnutrition
    • 4% reduction in severely acutely malnourished children

RB BSI is currently working with more than 25 partners across all its initiatives to create an impact for a better tomorrow.

***

About RB:

RB* is driven by its purpose to protect, heal and nurture in a relentless pursuit of a cleaner, healthier world. We fight to make access to the highest-quality hygiene, wellness, and nourishment a right, not a privilege, for everyone.

RB is proud to have a stable of trusted household brands found in households in more than 190 countries. These include Enfamil, Nutramigen, Nurofen, Strepsils, Gaviscon, Mucinex, Durex, Scholl, Clearasil, Lysol, Dettol, Veet, Harpic, Cillit Bang, Mortein, Finish, Vanish, Calgon, Woolite, Air Wick and more. 20 million RB products a day are bought by consumers globally.

RB’s passion to put consumers and people first, to seek out new opportunities, to strive for excellence in all that we do, and to build shared success with all our partners, while doing the right thing, always is what guides the work of our 40,000+ diverse and talented colleagues worldwide. For more information visit https://www.rb.com/

*RB is the trading name of Reckitt Benckiser group of companies