Reckitt Benckiser lends marketing clout to Save the Children health schemes

The extension of the global Healthier kids, Happier homes campaign aims to combine Reckitt Benckiser’s consumer communication capabilities with Save the Children’s expertise in providing life saving treatments to children in developing countries.

Reckitt Benckiser will develop low-cost sanitation products, ‘clean delivery’ newborn kits and hygiene campaigns to help improve health of families, babies and children.

It will kick off with pilot programmes in Nigeria and Pakistan designed to improve attitudes to health and hygiene and educate families on the causes, prevention and treatment of diarrhoea.

The partnership hopes to stop children dying from preventable causes such as diarrhoea. Nearly one in ten child deaths, or 800,000 each year, is due to diarrhoea caused by poor home environments, inadequate personal hygiene and lack of access to essential services such as healthcare, sanitation, clean water and basic nutrition.

Rakesh Kapoor, CEO of Reckitt Benckiser says, “Businesses like RB have a responsibility beyond results and our larger role is to do more for the world. We want to make a difference by providing innovative solutions for healthier lives and happier homes. And our growing partnership with Save the Children will go some way to creating lasting improvements in the health and hygiene of vulnerable children and families globally. Together, we want to help stop diarrhoea being one of the biggest causes of death in children, and this is ambitious – but we believe that with the knowledge and strength of our partnership, this is achievable.”

Rival Unilever yesterday (22 April) reported on the progress of its sustainable business plan. It cited health and hygiene programmes such as the Lifebuoy hand washing campaign as examples of sustainable marketing activities that have improved consumers’ lives but also driven growth.