Lets #HelpAChildReach5 With Lifebuoy’s Chamki Initiative

I believe that the health of your loved ones is the utmost thing in your mind and you leave no stone unturned to ensure that. I remember my mom always insisted that wash my hands practically all the time when I was growing up. Never realising why and for what; I did it nevertheless and now this habit has become part of my routine. I'm trying to inculcate the same habit in my #PrincessHeer too. I always wash my hand before eating, after using the restroom, once back home from outdoors; and try to ensure #PrincessHeer does it too. However, these days she has been asking me, 'Why momma, how does it help?' to which I have the standard reply, 'Because Momma Says So'.

However as Lifebuoy India invited me to the unveiling of their new video 'Chamki', I was spell-bound. Hand washing is no longer is just about hygiene but it also is about ensuring the health and life of a child. As the panelists discussed the importance of the simple task and how it affected infants I was left aghast. The numbers that were thrown across were not mere figures, they were tiny little dreams that would have changed a family. 6 million children who die before they reach the age of 5, every year all because of the simple task not done. In India, the infant mortality rate (IMR) is 42 per 1,000 live births of which 44% of child deaths under the age of 5 happen in the first 28 days of life during the neonatal stage. The top two causes of death are diarrhoea and pneumonia which accounts to over 1.7 million child deaths. In simple words, a child in India dies every 15 seconds due to these diseases, which are easily preventable by the simple act of hand-washing.

While most people have access to the necessary products for hand-washing, they usually fail to understand the hoopla behind the simple task. The team of Lifebuoy and the gorgeous actress Kajol emphasised the barrier they faced due to the fact that they went out to the common man to discuss a simple task and not much pressing issues like the wars and corruption and bigger health hazards like Cancer and Aids. However, they stood the test of time and now need more and more help in helping to educate the common man the single most effective result of hand-washing; the result of saving a life. 

The short film Chamki released by Lifebuoy reiterates the importance of this simple activity through the voice of an unborn child who may or may not be able to reach the age of 5. Please watch the film below and share it with #HelpAChildReach5.

 

Now, come pledge with me to be part of this program that aims at increasing awareness about the importance of hand-washing with soap to counter infant and child mortality by changing behaviours. Let's inculcate the simple yet very important habit during at the right juncture in life. Lets lather this initiative so that the foaming effect helps remove the dangers that pose to every child and #HelpAChildReach5.