MUMBAI: Reckitt Benckiser (RB), a consumer health and hygiene company, today launched the RB fight for access fund to improve access to health, hygiene and nutrition for all. As part of this fund, an additional £32 million has been mobilized to address the urgent collective fight against the spread of Covid-19 by breaking the chain of this fast-spreading infection. The fund is, and will, be a demonstration of RB’s purpose and fight in action- to protect, heal and nurture in the relentless pursuit of a cleaner, healthier world.
Recognising that awareness and availability are the biggest challenges in the current scenarios, RB India, commenced various activities utilizing the fund, focusing on consumers engagements to share information and product distribution. Other activities deploying the fund through our brands include:
Making the products available to the ones in need:
We will be distributing 10 million units of Dettol Soap to the most vulnerable within India
Dettol in partnership with Bikers for Good launched #HandWashCorona, a public health initiative amidst the raging spread of COVID-19. Under this campaign, volunteers rode within the streets of New Delhi-NCR and distributed 9 lakh Dettol soaps to families in weaker/unprivileged communities.
We will also be donating 1 million litres of our disinfectant products including Lizol disinfectant liquid and Harpic toilet cleaners to aid India’s states in fighting this crisis especially in public health institutions and at the frontline with health and sanitation workers.
Donating critical protection equipment – 3.5 million N95 masks with a focus on pharmacists and health care workers. These will be distributed across our major markets.
The Dettol India The Hand Wash Challenge campaign on TikTok reached 20 billion views in one week getting important behaviour change messages to young people on the necessity of handwashing. The record-breaking campaign is being rolled out across global markets
Mass outreach through informative advertisement on TV: Dettol in partnership with leading Bollywood actress, Madhur Dixit released an engaging public service announcement #ApniSurkashaApneHaath to encourage viewers to practice handwashing.
RB global CEO Laxman Narasimhan said, 'We have a 200-year history of making a material difference to the lives of our consumers. Our brands have a critical role to play in promoting hygiene and health in the fight against the current Covid-19 pandemic. I have been witness to heroic efforts across the company to live our Purpose and our Fight. I am in awe of the 'can do' attitude across the RB organisation and the relentless pursuit by my colleagues to make the world cleaner and healthier. Under this initiative, in India, we will donate 10 million bars of Dettol soap to the most vulnerable, 3.5 million N95 (medical grade) masks to frontline health workers as well as 1 million litres of disinfectant products like Lizol surface cleaner and Harpic toilet cleaners to aid public health institutions and frontline health and sanitation workers in different states who are fighting to keep the nation safe. We will continue to partner with the government on driving behaviour change and supporting the great partnership we have developed through the Dettol BSI campaign.”
The RB Fight for Access Fund will benefit from 50 per cent funding from corporate, matched by funding from each of the three business units, Hygiene, Health and Nutrition. The maximum amount for any one initiative will be capped at £ 1 million. All programmes will be independently measured and captured on Goodera, central platform and repository of all the fantastic initiatives RB have globally.
