The Lifebuoy Swasthya Chetna programme was initiated in 2002 as a rural health and hygiene initiative in India.
In India, over 600,000 children under the age of five die annually from diarrhoea. Studies have shown that almost half these deaths could have been prevented by simply washing hands with soap.
In partnership with local government bodies, the Lifebuoy Swasthya Chetna programme is designed to spread awareness about the importance of washing hands with soap. It also promotes general hygiene in rural areas that are difficult to reach through usual marketing campaigns such as television, press or in-store advertising and promotions.
Communication
Swasthya Chetna, which means 'Health Awakening', is a multi-phased activity that works towards effecting hand washing behaviour change in rural communities. The main message of the campaign is "Visibly clean is not really clean".
The campaign has three communication tasks:
- To establish the presence of germs, even on clean hands, through the use of a 'glow germ demo kit' that has been developed by Unilever for use in Lifebuoy Swasthya Chetna. The simple and powerful tool makes unseen germs visible.
- To establish the consequences of these hidden germs, which when ingested, can cause stomach infections and diarrhoea, or be transferred to eyes causing painful eye infections, or infecting wounds.
- To establish how current practice is not enough to fight these germs by using the glow germ demo kit to demonstrate that washing with water is not enough, and that it is necessary to wash hands with soap for germ protection.
Tools used to communicate the central Swasthya Chetna message are adapted according to the specific audience.
Engagement
Lifebuoy teams visit each village several times, engaging all segments of the community and ensuring the formation of local 'self-help communities' that can sustain the message.
School children, being initiators of change, make excellent ambassadors of communication, provided they find it fun and engaging. The element of Lifebuoy Swasthya Chetna that involves children focuses on fun, using stories, games, songs and quizzes. Efforts are made to ensure that the learning does not fade over time.
Additionally, these visits also include a meeting with the Panchayat (village elders).
Covering 130 million people in 30,000 villages since 2002, the Lifebuoy Swasthya Chetna programme has made its mark as the single largest private hygiene education project in the world.
The Swasthya Chetna programme will be re-launched in 2009, and will cover even more villages in India as part of the Lifebuoy brand's crusade.
