World Toilet Day: Harpic Partners
United Nations on Toilet Hygiene
Against the backdrop of over 32
million Nigerians not having access to functional toilet facilities and
defecating in the open, Harpic, Nigeria’s No. 1 toilet cleaning brand from
Reckitt Benckiser the market leader in health, hygiene and home care products
has reechoed the need for clean toilets in addition to poor sanitation as the
leading cause to large economic losses, high impact on malnutrition rates as
well as morbidity. Harpic made its promise and position known as it marked the
World Toilet Day, WTD on Thursday, November 19, in partnership with the United
Nations Information Centre (UNIC) in Lagos.
RB’s Vision for Nigeria is where
people are healthier and live better and RB will continue on making difference
by giving Nigerians innovative solutions for healthier lives and happier homes.
Harpic, one of RB’s power brands has consistently put on the front burner the
importance of having access to clean toilet and the potential health
implications as well as the vulnerability it poses, especially to Women and
Children.
RB’s Marketing Director, West
Africa, Mr. Oguzhan Silivrili who spoke at the Idi-Araba Community and
Idi-Araba School Complex, Mushin, Lagos – venue of the event - said the
enlightenment becomes necessary because open defecation has a ripple effect to
the larger society as it affects the healthy living conditions resulting in
increased Child Mortality, Cholera, Diahoerria in addition to its considerable
social costs which include loss of dignity or risk of physical attack and
sexual abuse. As a result, Nigeria Loses N455bln annually which is 1.3% of the
Nigeria’s GDP to poor sanitation and hygiene which increases the risk of
disease and malnutrition.
“This year, WTD is focusing on the
link between sanitation and nutrition, drawing the world’s attention to the
importance of toilets in supporting better nutrition and improved health. Lack
of access to clean drinking water and sanitation, along with the absence of
good toilet hygiene practices, are among the underlying causes of poor
nutrition. The aim of World Toilet Day is to raise awareness about the people
in the world who do not have access to a toilet, despite the fact that it is a
human right to have clean water and sanitation.”
He pointed out that Goal 6 of the
Sustainable Development Goals is to ensure access to water and sanitation for
all. “Clean, accessible water for all is an essential part of the world we want
to live in. There is sufficient fresh water on the planet to achieve this. But
due to bad economics or poor infrastructure, every year, fecal contamination of
the environment is the root cause of an annual average of 5,400 cases of
cholera affecting Nigeria. Harpic has been in the fore front of this campaign
reaching 1,000,000 homes yearly across 16 cities within the country to educate
consumers about how to keep a clean and hygienic toilet
Category Manager Harpic,
Bamigbaiye-Elatuyi Omotola stated that Harpic’s toilet hygiene campaign
initiative builds on the strong commitment already made by UN Member
States. The “Sanitation for All’ Resolution (A/RES/67/291) adopted by the
United Nations General Assembly in July 2013, designating 19 November as World
Toilet Day.
The Day is coordinated by UN-Water
in collaboration with Governments and relevant stakeholders. Prior to the
event, Harpic had a community engagement walk in partnership with United
Nations Information Centre, distributing fliers on toilet Hygiene and
Sanitation in addition to one-on-one sanitation awareness and education to
residents of Idi-Araba and environs on the need for better toilet hygiene
practices. Members of the community were also taught basic hygiene techniques
on how to maintain toilets, while Harpic demonstrated good toilet hygiene
practices and also donated two mobile toilets to the community.
Receiving the mobile toilets, the Sarkin
Hausawa of Id-Araba, Alhaji Idris Lawal promised that the community will
take good care of the toilets. He commended Harpic for taking the bold step of
ensuring that those in the community are conversant with flushable toilet
facilities.
Message from the United Nations
Secretary General, Dr. Ban Ki Moon was delivered by the UNIC Director, Mr.
Ronald Kayanja while a brief pictorial presentation of the Sustainable
Development Goals in relation to sanitation/WTD was equally presented.
This day is significant to generate
more awareness that open defecation not only has higher costs than any other
sanitation practice, it has considerable adverse social impacts. Harpic has
undertaken to create proactive awareness on sanitation anchored on the World
Toilet Day.
