Healthy Pakistan Mission to promote hand washing concept

The World Health Organisation (WHO) states that every year 3.5 million children die of diarrhea and respiratory diseases and experts estimate that 80 percent of these diseases occur due to germs being passed through unclean hands.
In Pakistan, the situation of child health is abysmal and it is estimated by Pakistan Medical Association that one child dies per minute due to diarrhea and other water and sanitation issues.
Taking the dismal health situation into mind, and to cut infection rates among children and promote an ideology of healthy living, Unilever Pakistan's hygiene brand Lifebuoy, launched a mission in 2006 under the title of "Healthy Hoga Pakistan". Through this mission, Lifebuoy's aim was to educate people on health and hygiene in Pakistan and make them aware of the importance of washing hands with soap.
Also, through this campaign, students were educated in schools on the importance of washing hands and they carried forth this message to their homes and brought about a change.
Moving forward, the year 2010 saw Lifebuoy revamping their mission and launching a major campaign under the title of "Healthy Pakistan Mission" led by their brand ambassador Wasim Akram. The mission saw ambitious students from schools all over Pakistan being selected as 'vice-captains' of Wasim Akram and being entrusted with the task of rolling out this mission in their schools.
A campaign of this magnitude was successfully carried out by the close collaboration of Unilever Pakistan and a trust called Idara-e-Taleem-O-Aagahi (ITA). Registered in 2000, the trust has always believed in promoting education as a comprehensive process for human and social change.
The collaboration between Unilever Pakistan and ITA witnessed 2500 schools and over 700,000 students being reached on a single platform this year. It has also resulted in thousands of families being driven to participate in this mission and caused them to pledge to wash their hands with soap.
The main aim of this campaign was also to bring behavioural change in people regarding hand washing and improved health and hygiene.
Throughout the campaign's journey, students were involved in a full-year hand washing movement led by Lifebuoy. It is firmly believed that this campaign will continue to run across Pakistan in the years to come ahead.
This year also saw the Global Hand Washing Week being celebrated with a lot of zeal throughout the country. Unilever Pakistan decided to appreciate the teachers and students of all the schools which participated in the Healthy Pakistan Mission campaign by hosting a Grand Finale at the Rangoon Walla Hall on October 18, 2011. Through this event, Unilever aimed to appreciate those who have taken this mission to their hearts and also commemorate Global Hand Washing Week.
This event witnessed the participation of twenty schools across Sindh and saw the Brand Ambassador of the product, Wasim Akram making his presence strongly felt on the occasion. Wasim Akram stressed on the importance of washing hands five times in a day and staying clean and fit in order to become a healthy citizen of the country. He also distributed prizes to the vice-captains of the participating schools and encouraged them to keep on making a vital impact in the lives of their friends, teachers and families.
The Lifebuoy team's mission is to change the behaviour of 68 million people by 2015 by promoting the Lifebuoy way by washing hands on key moments to prevent infections.
Taking this campaign a notch ahead, ITA decided to carry out the Healthy Pakistan Mission campaign in the town of Lyari. By doing so, ITA and Lifebuoy's presence will be established in the area.
Hence, on October 27, 2011, ITA hosted the Lyari Children's Health and Hygiene Festival which saw children participating in interactive and creative activities at Shah Bhittai Hall. It was felt, that through these activities, children will receive an opportunity to stake out their own paths and understand their cultures and traditions better.
Eight schools participated in this event where children were taught how to wash hands with Lifebuoy soap, share their stories with regards to health and hygiene and draw pictures depicting what they felt about Lifebuoy and cleanliness. The pictures were collected and placed for display for viewing by the Chief Guest, Mansoob Ahmed Siddiqui, Director Private Schools and parents and teachers.
Through the Lifebuoy Healthy Pakistan Mission campaign which was celebrated in two different venues of the town amidst different settings, one goal was reached and that was to promote the concept of healthy living amongst children, thus ensuring that the future of Pakistan will be healthier, wiser and bright.