The cherubic voices of children filled the air as the music lilted and swaggered in rhythm. It is a class of nursery students in a school on the outskirts of the national capital. The lyrics and music change a little as you make your way to another school in the neighbourhood, but the message is clear: the importance of handwashing; and if you want to make it a habit, catch them young. The concept of humble hand hygiene has survived centuries, cut across cultures and surfaced in significance in all religions across the world.

While hand hygiene has taken centre stage as humanity was hurled into the whirlwind of the Covid-19 pandemic, its criticality is not limited to a tragedy. It is one that is the basis of averting many a tragedies.

Handwashing is one of the indicators under the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 6). The target seeks to achieve adequate and equitable hygiene for all, paying special attention to the needs of women and girls and the vulnerable by 2030. Besides, SDG 6 impacts a host of others goals, such as No Poverty (SDG 1), Zero Hunger (SDG 2), Good Health & Well-Being (SDG 3), Quality Education (SDG 4), Gender Equality (SDG 5), Clean Water & Sanitation (SDG 6), Decent Work & Economic Growth (SDG 8) and Reduced Inequalities (SDG 10). According to a recent report of the World Health Organization, there is a need to increase our current rates of progress by four times to realise hygiene targets under SDG 6.

Proactive hand hygiene leads to a lower level of diseases, and with its impact on the general wellbeing of people, it is directly proportional to a country’s economic growth. In a country like India where millions are killed by diarrhoea and respiratory illnesses, health literacy becomes a key aspect of life and policymaking. India needs reliable partners to make the arduous journey of educating its masses, large swathes of which lie where roads do not always reach. One such reliable partner is Reckitt. Beyond the economics of contributing Rs 78.8 billion to India’s gross domestic product (as estimated by Oxford Economics), the social impact of Reckitt’s programmes is immense. The Dettol Banega Swachh India campaign, launched in 2014, and its evolution to Banega Swasth India in 2019 have ensured that 24 million children across the country are given hygiene education. Its result is a 14.6% reduction in diarrhoea cases and 57% less school absenteeism due to illnesses.

Closely related to hand hygiene is self-care. A new buzz phrase in healthcare, ‘self-care’ includes proactive and reactive actions towards well-being and preventing health hazards. Dettol’s campaigns have always been seeped in promoting self-care, especially by focusing on new mothers and children in the first 1,000 days of a child’s life.

As Reckitt and the Outlook Group partner for the third year in a row, creating a narrative for, by and of India, its impact is around for us to see. The Dettol Diarrhoea Net Zero programme and the Dettol Hygiene Olympiad, among others, have consistently aligned with national priorities and directly engaged with consumers to increase hygiene awareness. #HandWashChallenge went viral in March 2020, garnering over 50 billion views globally. Closer home, the Mil Ke Harayenge anthem started a conversation on handwashing and vaccination in a country where instincts of self-preservation are not always scientific in approach.

The Global Handwashing Day, which passed by a few days back, gave a clarion call to ‘unite for hand hygiene’. It highlighted the need for collaborations, underlining that only a sustained mass movement will lay the foundations of health, hygiene and self-care in a world fighting to overcome pathogens.

Suchetana Ray is Editor, Outlook Business

Ravi Bhatnagar is Director, External Affairs & Partnerships, South Asia, Reckitt