Dettol Malaysia proudly launched a public awareness campaign entitled Purpose Programme 2022 with support and in partnership with the Ministry of Education, targeting 100,000 school children between the ages of seven to nine. Falling under the brand’s, Hidup Sihat, Malaysia Hebat initiative, the school programme will be rolled-out in over 400 primary schools across Malaysia from 17 January 2022 with an aim to educate those from standard one to standard three adopt and retain healthy hygiene habits from a young age.
In today’s world, where pollution levels are rising and numerous diseases emerging, it is imperative to begin teaching children proper hand washing techniques at an early age to encourage a lifelong habit. To build better hygiene practices and uplift health standards, Dettol, through this educational awareness initiative, aims to ingrain regular handwashing practices into a child’s daily life, which is one of the best ways to remove germs, and prevent the spread of germs to others.
According to Dr. Steven KW Chow, President of The Federation of Private Medical Practitioners’ Associations, Malaysia (FPMPAM) and Chairman for FPMPAM/Dettol Public Education partnership program, “It is very important that inculcating proper hand washing and keeping good hygiene become part and parcel of routine training for all school children.
Early childhood is a formative period during which healthy habits are developed, including good hygiene practices. The Dettol Purpose Programme, which has been constructed to drive behaviour change and create lasting hygiene habits is looking to run a series of educational sessions that targets the cognitive developmental stage of children on increasing their knowledge and promoting hand hygiene practices. Creative activities have been planned for the illustration of hand hygiene concepts in terms of “the right time”, “the right steps”, and “the right duration”.
“Children are powerful agents of change who use their powers of persuasion to take messages back to their parents and wider communities. With the right support and interventions, we can significantly boost child development, helping them to grow, learn and foster daily practices that we hope will translate into permanent habitual change. This is why it is so important that we begin the nurturing and education process in the early stages of life where healthy habits are adopted, and hand hygiene practice becomes second nature,” said Gonzalo Balcazar, Regional General Manager of Reckitt Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam.
Under this initiative, Dettol will be introducing Hygiene Quest, a range of curriculum modules that use short, animated episodes, comics, lesson plans and activities centered around the adventures of four hero characters to deliver learning objectives. The comprehensive course has been developed by leading global educational partners with a measurement framework in place for maximum impact.
Dr. Say Shazril has also been engaged as an ambassador to help educate a wider audience on the importance of good hygiene practices and stand as advocate to the children. “I am thrilled that a programme like this is finally being rolled-out in schools, more importantly, at the primary school level. Learning simple life-long habits like good hand hygiene will benefit these children not just today, but into adulthood and future generations. It is a pleasure to be working with Dettol on this initiative and my hope is that we exceed the 100,000 children target so that more kids are exposed to the importance of keeping their hands clean at all times,” stated Dr. Say.
“At Dettol, our purpose is to protect and nurture in the relentless pursuit of a cleaner, healthier world. Via partnerships with the Ministry of Education such as these, we live our mission to help protect people of all ages, especially children, from germs by highlighting the necessity of healthy habits. As a leader in germ protection, we strongly believe that through this programme, we will be able to help safeguard the health of families in Malaysia for a better and healthier future,” added Balcazar further.