Hygiene & well-being

Our approach

As one of the market leaders in the manufacture of soap and toothpaste, we are uniquely placed to play a role in improving people’s health and hygiene by: making effective products that provide protection against disease; helping people access the right products; and transforming everyday habits through behaviour change campaigns.

The campaigns have focussed mainly on children, since lifetime habits are best inculcated in childhood.

Lifebuoy

At first thought, influencing more people to wash their hands and brush their teeth may not seem like much, but in fact the potential for improving health and actually saving lives is tremendous. Simple changes to everyday habits, like washing hands with soap and water before touching food and after going to the toilet, can halve the risk of contracting diarrhoeal diseases that claim the lives of over 3.5 million children each year, globally.

Through the Lifebuoy health and hygiene awareness programmes that we have been conducting in schools since 2002 in Sri Lanka, we have been able to spread our message of cleanliness to more than 250,000 students in 750 schools.

The first ever Global Handwashing Day - an initiative led by The World Bank, UNICEF, Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, USAID and Unilever was held on 18 October 2008. Unilever Sri Lanka celebrated this special day by collaborating with the Ministries of Health and Education and UNICEF and managed to get one million school children involved in activities like making a pledge to lead a healthier life and, of course, washing their hands with soap and water. This year too, Global Handwashing Day was celebrated.

Improving oral health

Since its launch in 1982, The Signal Oral Health Service has been inculcating the importance of good oral habits in pre-school and primary school children through activities such as providing free dental check-ups and distributing samples of toothpaste and toothbrushes as well as educational leaflets and posters, and by conducting large scale community-based oral health camps. To date, Signal has reached over three million children with its message of how brushing twice a day with fluoridated toothpaste can play a significant role in preventing tooth decay and gum disease.

Signal also supports dental research and has sponsored several International Dental Congresses held in Sri Lanka.

The Flora Healthy Heart project

The Flora brand has long been associated with heart health. In Sri Lanka, Flora’s Hadaridma or Healthy Heart campaign was launched in 2007 to communicate the message that heart disease is preventable and create awareness of the lifestyle changes that could prevent people from falling victim to this disease.

Public awareness of the dangers of unhealthy living is still low and we hope that the focussed message of the campaign - the importance of eating better, reducing stress and exercising regularly - will enable Sri Lankans to make more informed lifestyle choices that in turn will help them to live longer and healthier lives.