Doha, 23 September 2012 – Dettol, as part of its ‘Mission for Health’ initiative, is conducting a school road show programme in Qatar providing health and hygiene education to approximately 29,000 children. Following the global success of the community based initiative; ‘Mission for Health’ has now launched in the region with the aim to raise health and hygiene standards across the Middle East. The Dettol school road show is kick-starting a new year from September and will be touring schools in Qatar educating primary school children between the ages of 6-9 years. The programme engages children in fun educational workshops, where they learn of the existence of unseen germs, the illnesses they cause and how to wash their hands properly to prevent such germs from infecting them. “It is important to educate children when it comes to health and hygiene, so that they learn the fundamental principles to prevent and reduce the spread of infections amongst their peers,” said Dr. Hanan Shaban, Medical Marketing Manager, Reckitt Benckiser, Middle East and Iran. “Children are prone to spreading germs and infections as they are in close proximity to one another in the classroom, and at a young age do not understand how to manage and reduce the spread of germs. It is proven that regular hand washing with Dettol prevents the spread of infections and drastically reduces the number of sick days taken from school.” Dettol’s ‘Mission for Health’ is a community based initiative that actively helps to improve health and hygiene standards. The mission, fuelled by passion and expertise, focuses on educating and supporting mothers, children and families across the region to make better and more informed choices for their health and hygiene. The mission is supported by the Arab Hygiene Council, which is a think tank of leading medical experts who recognise and promote the fact that improved hygiene practices lead to better health. “Research from The Dettol Habit Study 2012 shows that hygiene standards in the Middle East are well below the global average. For example, only 19% of people in the region wash their hands with soap more than six times a day, compared with 31% of the UK population. Having said that, there is a huge opportunity to educate families on the benefits of proper hygiene and hand washing, which is what the Arab Hygiene Council, together with Dettol, aim to do through the ‘Mission for Health’,” concluded Dr. Hanan Shaban. ILQ NEWS

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