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Lifebuoy
Swasthya Chetna
What was
new about the program?
The program used
a powerful yet simple demonstration tool – the glow
germ demo kit – to make visible the germs on hands
that look clean, but were not washed with soap.
Key project
activities:
Lifebuoy Swasthya Chetna is a multiphase activity that
works toward effecting hand washing behavior change
among the rural communities it touches. The central
message of the campaign is:
Visibly clean is not really clean.
The
communication tasks were to:
Establish the presence of germs even on clean-looking
hands, using a simple but extremely powerful, low-cost
demonstration tool called the “glow germ demo kit.”
Developed by Unilever for use in Swasthya Chetna, it
brings to the target audience the idea that hands are
only truly clean if washed with soap.
Establish the consequences of these hidden germs on
hands.
Background
The Lifebuoy Swasthya Chetna (“Health Awakening”)
program began in 2002 as a rural health and hygiene
education initiative in India. The project was
designed to spread awareness about the
importance of washing hands with soap and to promote
general hygiene in rural villages. The program has
reached more than 100 million people, and its teams
have reached at least 44,000 villages in rural India.
Swasthya Chetna is one of the world’s largest
self-sustained and self-funded hygiene promotion
projects.
Communicating the
message to children:
School children are change initiators and, in this
context, the program works with them to take the
messages home and into their communities. Children are
also excellent communicators if they find
the topic or activity fun and involving. The tools to
communicate the central Swasthya Chetna message are
adapted according to the specific audience, and
schools have proven excellent entry points into
communities. The element of Swasthya Chetna that
involves children focuses on how to position hygiene
as fun and uses stories, games, songs and quizzes.
Key factors to
success of the program:
Continuous monitoring and evaluation is at the core of
the program – each year, program activities are
evaluated on both awareness of hygiene moments and
effective behavior changes. Improvements
can be made to the subsequent year’s program to make
it more effective in achieving its goals.
Cost-effectiveness of the program – the cost per
village is approximately £50 for the three exposures,
including implementation and development of the
materials.
Commitment of the operating company – Swasthya Chetna
is now central to what the brand does in India, and
the operating company (Hindustan Unilever Limited) has
invested more than US$5 million.
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