Dettol hygiene and handwashing initiatives

Campaigns such as Global Handwashing Day are critical in raising awareness about the importance of personal and home hygiene. These healthy habits, however, must be promoted and practised every day, all-year round.

 In recognition of this, and as a demonstration of its ongoing commitment to the health of South African children and their families, Dettol continues to add to its growing series of community-based educational initiatives.

The Children’s Hospital Trust partnership

The partnership was launched this year as part of Dettol’s activities around Global Handwashing Day 2011.

The Children’s Hospital Trust is the fund-raiser for the Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital and Paediatric Healthcare in the Western Cape. It is the only standalone specialist hospital in southern Africa dedicated entirely to children and is, therefore, critical to paediatric care across the region.

Through the partnership, Dettol has donated to the Children’s Hospital Trust R1 from every 150ml or 250ml Dettol Liquid Hand Wash sold during the period 15 September to 31 October 2011.

The hospital treats around 250 000 children each year, the majority of whom are from poor and marginalised communities; and provides first-class training to paediatric healthcare professionals throughout the entire sub-continent.

“We are delighted to be able to support the hospital through the Children’s Hospital Trust and to help raise funds to upgrade its B1 and B2 wards,” notes Bevan Lewis, senior brand manager of Dettol South Africa. “This will
further improve the great care it is able to provide children with illnesses such as diarrhoea, pneumonia, tuberculosis and HIV.”

Says Louise Driver, chief executive officer of the Children’s Hospital Trust: “We rely on the generosity of donors to realise our fund-raising objectives.

“With the support of benefactors, the upgraded wards will be better equipped to improve the outcomes of some of the hospital’s youngest and sickest patients, as well as provide an improved working environment for the hardworking staff in these busy wards.”

The Eve Graham Government Hospital Programme

Endorsed by the Department of Health, the aim of this initiative is to teach basic hygiene habits to expectant and new moms in government hospitals around the country.

The programme is based on the premise that, via education and the application of simple hygiene measures, infection and illness in babies can be prevented – contributing to a reduction in the country’s infant mortality rate.

The cornerstone of the Government Hospital Programme is a group of 42 trained ambassadors who daily conduct sessions at pre- and postnatal clinics in government hospitals. They enjoy successful interactions with the moms, largely because they converse with their audience in their mother tongue.

The programme aims to reach 40% of all mums at public and municipal clinics – around 500 000 women every year.

The Detto Roadshow

On the road since 2006, the Detto Roadshow teaches children that washing one’s hands can preserve health by preventing the spread of infection.

Detto, a friendly mascot, encourages learners to follow basic hygiene habits including washing their hands properly and regularly.

Impersonated by a professional actor, Detto ensures the learning process is fun as he goes about teaching youngsters aged four to 10 years when and how to wash their hands.

Since inception in 2006, the Detto Roadshow has reached some two million families.

The Pick n Pay School Club Dettol Initiative

The Pick n Pay School Club, which began in 2003, focuses on providing free educational support to schools on a range of subjects – from hygiene to nutrition to global warming.

In 2007, Dettol came on board as a partner to educate children about good hygiene habits and so help prevent the transmission of infectious diseases and reduce the country’s high child mortality rate.

By the middle of last year, Dettol had taught more than 1 500 000 learners and teachers in over 2 000 schools nationwide about basic hygiene practices such as handwashing.

The Dettol Mom and Baby Edushow

This initiative uses “edutainment” in the audience’s mother tongue to communicate basic information that women require in order to ensure optimum health for their families.

Targeting women who do not have access to modern-day communication channels such as television and the Internet, the programme creates a social platform for interaction with healthcare professionals and health promoters within a relaxed environment.

One of the innovations associated with this initiative is the Dettol handwashing bag, which allows caregivers to wash their hands in the absence of running water. More than 65 000 bags have been issued over the last two years, and the initiative plans to visit around 100 communities every year, many of which are in remote areas.

The Fall Ill Less Often (FILO) Initiative

This initiative was inspired by a study of 1 250 households in the Western Cape, which demonstrated that illnesses were reduced by up to 75% in homes that received hygiene products and practised basic good hygiene habits such as handwashing.

The campaign is focused on spreading the important message that the first step in preventing communicable diseases begins at home. That is, regular, proper handwashing and the use of disinfectants.

The findings of the FILO study already have been presented at two international congresses.

Interesting facts

The Global Handwashing Day serves as a timely reminder of how this simple and often overlooked hygiene habit could save the lives of thousands of South Africans – particularly children under the age of five. Reports suggest that as many as 22 500 of these vulnerable youngsters die from preventable
communicable diseases every year.

“Global Handwashing Day is an especially important commemoration here in South Africa, where poor hygiene contributes to the spread of preventable illnesses like diarrhoea, and our high child mortality rate,” confirms Dr Kgosi Letlape, president of the African Medical Association and a member of the Global Hygiene Council (GHC).

Global Handwashing Day is dedicated to raising awareness of the importance of proper and frequent handwashing with soap. This hygiene habit is seldom practised in the communities it would benefit most, even though it has been shown to be an extremely effective and inexpensive way of preventing diarrhoea and acute respiratory infections, including pneumonia and TB.

According to World Health Organization estimates, at least 3.5 million children under the age of five are still dying every year from diarrhoea and acute lower respiratory tract infections, with the majority of these deaths occurring in developing countries including South Africa. These largely preventable deaths continue to contribute to South Africa’s alarmingly high under-five child mortality rate.

While accurate statistics remain hard to come by, projections by the United Nations Children’s Fund (which leads the UN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation), suggest that the rate in 2008 was 67 deaths per 1 000 children – which follows the same trend as estimates from the Actuarial Society of South Africa’s 2003 model.

“This rate is still far too high,” says Dr Letlape. “Unfortunately, we seem to be slipping backward and losing ground against these important health markers. We have to get these numbers down.

“Part of the issue relating to this is HIV/Aids, of course, but we are also experiencing a plague of diarrhoea and other infectious diseases, which we know we can reduce through improved hygiene methods.”

Proper, frequent handwashing with soap helps to prevent communicable diseases such as diarrhoea and acute respiratory infections by removing pathogens (disease-causing micro-organisms such as bacteria and viruses) that are found on hands.

A study conducted by the GHC, of 1 250 households in the Western Cape, has shown that illnesses in homes that practised basic good hygiene habits were reduced by up to 75%. The study indicated that 80% of gastrointestinal infections including vomiting and diarrhoea, as well as 70% of respiratory infections and skin infections, can be prevented through good hygiene habits.

These findings are verified by research from 17 other international studies, all of which confirm that the simple act of handwashing reduces the risk of contracting a stomach bug by at least 47%.

“The evidence is clear: by washing our hands, we break the cycle of infection,” maintains Dr Letlape.

Referring to a 2009 survey by the GHC, in which 60% of South Africans admitted they do not wash their hands properly after using the toilet, sneezing or handling pets and food; and 24% said they usually wash their hands with running water only – Dr Letlape claims we still have a long way to go to ensure people take this
message seriously.

“Not only do we not wash our hands frequently enough, there are still plenty of misconceptions about handwashing that need to be tackled,” he contends. “Too many people, for instance, still believe that a quick splash in some water will do, and few know that some pathogens like the flu virus can survive on a surface for up to 72 hours.”

Dr Letlape is eager to ensure mothers and other caregivers appreciate that children are more at risk than adults. “Children tend to have much more intense personal contact”, he explains, “as touch forms a big part of their play and interaction throughout the day, making them more susceptible.

“The good news, however, is that they can also be very effective agents of change once they have been taught the benefits of good hygiene.”

It is this positive message of behavioural change that Dr Letlape wants us to keep in mind as we observe Global Handwashing Day this year.

“We need to remember that our health, and the health of our children, is in our hands – both figuratively and literally. And the most powerful and cost-effective weapon we have against the spread of infection is also the simplest: handwashing with soap,” he concludes.