Dettol celebrates Global Handwashing Day

During the relay, children are taught simple steps of handwashing and the occasions when they must wash their hands. They then pass on the baton to the school children in another country via virtual screens. The relay began from Sydney and passed through Beijing, Dhaka, New Delhi, Karachi, The Middle East, Johannesburg, Lagos, Buenos Aires, Mexico City, ending in San Jose (Costa Rica). To learn more about the global handwashing relay, view the video by clicking here.

“Give Life a Hand” campaign was launched globally on  Oct 1 to emphasize on the importance of a simple act of hand-washing with soap, and drive habit change, particularly among children because they are the most effective agents of change in society. Largely led by digital, the campaign invited people to pledge their support to the cause in form of #handfie i.e. a Selfie showing your clean hand – simple and unique mechanic to get everyone involved.

For every #handfie submitted by people on www.givelifeahand.com, Dettol has pledged to educate 1 child about healthy hand-washing habits through school contact programs around the world.

In the past 8 years through the School Handwash Program in India, Dettol has imparted education around healthy handwashing habits to 6 million children across 20,000 schools in India and aims to educate another 5 million children by the end of 2015. In addition, Dettol has also reached out to 4 million new Mom’s in government and private hospitals across 40+ cities to spread awareness around good hygiene regime for them and their infants, helping lay a strong foundation for good hygiene.

The brand aims to educate another 2 million young mothers by end of 2015.