... launches ‘Save a Child a Minute’ with the Federal
Govt. to Combat Diarrhea among Nigerian Children
 |
| Vice President Osinbajo (right) welcomes the Managing Director Reckitt Benckiser(RB) West Africa , Rahul Murgai to the Presidential Villa, Abuja |
RB, the world’s
leading consumer health and hygiene Company has proposed partnership with the
Federal Government of Nigeria to fight diarrhoea which claims the lives nearly
100,000 children under 5 years of age annually.
The RB West Africa and
Global team members along with Save The Children representatives visited the
office of The Vice President, His Excellency, Hon. Prof. Yemi Osinbajo to
share the proposal and discuss avenues of partnership with government to
further the social and economic goals in the country.
Rahul
Murgai, the Managing Director, RB West Africa shared RB’s global
vision is to provide our consumers with innovative solutions for healthier
lives and happier homes. He further shared that RB has been operating in
Nigeria for over 50 years and remains one of the key priority markets for
continued focus and investment. Accordingly RB has been working to create a
culture of health and hygiene and is present in country with its portfolio of
trusted brands like Dettol, Nurofen, Strepsils, Gaviscon, Durex, Harpic,
Mortein, and Air Wick. He further stated that RB is not looking at
Nigerian opportunity over short term but see a longer term potential and that
Nigeria will remain the epicenter for African growth and plays an important strategic
role in serving and developing other key markets in West Africa.
With
Dettol, a trusted name among Nigerian households and mothers, we have been
actively partnering with Ministry of Health, Nigerian Medical Association, Save
The Children and other NGOs to create scaled awareness around good health and
hygiene. As part of our ongoing commitment, we have already reached 5 million
mothers and 3.9 million school children over last 6 years to improve maternal
health and reduced infant mortality in line with Nigeria commitments to the
Sustainable Development Goals.
However,
these interventions though in right direction, need much greater participation
and scale from like-minded corporates, NGOs and government if we were to build
a truly healthier and prosperous nation. The Water and Sanitation Program
Research reports that Nigeria loses N455bln annually which is 1.3% of GDP to
poor sanitation and hygiene which increases the risk of disease and
malnutrition making it an urgent priority for all the stakeholders and society.
We believe that the implementation of National Health Act, Rota-Virus and Wash
Policy will all contribute to making Nigeria healthier.
The
impact is startling in human terms- reveal that ‘one child dies every minute’
under the age of 5 from preventable diseases, specifically diarrhoea.
Accordingly, we are announcing the ground breaking ‘Save a Child a
Minute’ program in partnership with Save The Children and Lagos State
government being piloted in Shomolu LGA where we are working to reduce
prevalence and incidence of diarrhoea by 50% and mortality by 80%. What makes
the program ground-breaking is that for the first time, a holistic approach on
the WHO Seven (7) point plan is being implemented in Africa. The learnings are
being shared with the Federal government in anticipation of creating a national
movement to fast scale the program.
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