Dettol Takes Hygiene Awareness to Schools, Launches Curriculum

Uchechukwu Nnaike

Dettol Nigeria is set to commence its 2021 Dettol School Hygiene Education Programme, a Sustainable Development Goal (SDG 6) initiative under the Dettol Clean Naija campaign.

The programme aims at creating awareness, educating and encouraging primary school students to inculcate hygienic practices in their daily lives.

This was announced during the Dettol School Hygiene stakeholders’ workshop in Lagos recently, where key players in the Lagos State education sector were informed about the 2021 programme vision, as well as its implementation in primary schools across the state.

The 2021 edition of the programme has two new features- the specially developed hygiene curriculum created by the Dettol international team, consisting of comics and worksheets that aim to convey the hygiene message to pupils in a fun and engaging manner.

The other new feature is the introduction of the programme impact assessment, which will see Dettol use scientific measurement tools to determine the impact of its hygiene education on the students, their teachers and parents.

Also, in line with SDG 17, partnerships for the goals, Dettol has partnered with the Lagos State office on SDGs, Dean Initiative, World’s Largest Lesson and Slum and Rural Health Initiative (SRHIN) to drive the programme implementation and adoption.

In his remarks, the General Manager, Reckitt Sub-Saharan Africa, Mr. Akbar Ali Shah stated: “With Dettol, our purpose is to protect life, by making good hygiene simple to adopt. Over the past six years, we have directly reached over five million primary school children in Nigeria with our hygiene education. However, with the need for an intensified hygiene consciousness due to COVID-19, we are evolving from a model where we had just a one-off contact with the students, to one where there will be repeated interactions based on lessons from the Hygiene Curriculum.”

Shah added: “Our aim is to emphasise the need to enable a sanitised environment and to create the importance of water, hygiene and sanitation in preventing the spread of infection among children.

“We recognise this is an enormous task and we acknowledge the contribution that our partners, Lagos State office on the SDGs, Dean Initiative, World’s Largest Lesson, and SRHIN will bring to this campaign,” he added.

The Senior Special Assistant on SDGs to the Lagos State Governor, Mr. Lekan Fatodu, stated that, “statistics have shown that half of all general practitioner consultations and 12 per cent of all hospitalizations among children aged 0 to 14 years are from infections. “Hence, I am enthusiastic to see the huge benefits the knowledge shared here today will have on the physical well-being of our pupils. I thank Dettol Nigeria who have partnered with the Dean Initiative, for the overall well-being of school children and I charge all our stakeholders and school executives to help ensure the success of this initiative.”

The Chairman, Lagos State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), Hon. Wahab Alawiye-King in his goodwill message said, “it is an honour to be part of this great occasion which has brought together key actors from different sectors to explore and commit to the challenge of making our schools WASH-friendly. Our priority to advance access to education and learning outcomes by providing a safe, inclusive and equitable learning environment highlights the significance of this workshop and as such, I want to appreciate Dettol Nigeria and DEAN Initiative for this impressive outreach.”

The Dettol Clean Naija Initiative was created by Dettol Nigeria as an integrated multi-level campaign, aimed at creating awareness, education and driving hygiene behavioral change to achieve a cleaner and healthier Nigeria.