Summary
An exam that could save lives
Challenge
Hygiene Practices have never been more important- Covid-19 demonstrated the importance of hygiene practices and how the lack of it can adversely impact our health & well-being. Health experts across the world have cautioned that COVID-19 may be just a precursor to more devastating pandemics in the future. India loses a child every two minutes to diseases like diarrhoea and pneumonia, which are preventable through good hygiene. Hygiene has never been more important to humankind. But, despite their importance, Hygiene practices were deteriorating- Post-pandemic, people were experiencing a hygiene fatigue. This resulted in a dip of 37% in the sales of hand hygiene products. Brands, Health Organizations & Governments have been working hard to instill hygiene practices- through participative campaigns, fun handwashing songs, animated visuals, and by even adding handwashing to the alphabets. But in an attempt to make hygiene practices engaging, we were making them expendable. Hygiene fatigue together with an overdose of hygiene advertising, were resulting in the deterioration of hygiene practices. According to 76th NSS Report - while 76.6% Indian households had access to hygiene facility with soap and water, only 35.8% were practicing handwashing. Dettol wanted to raise India's standards of Hygiene.
Objective
This case demonstrates how a cultural insight can lead to the creation of a unique behavior change platform. In the aftermath of Covid, brands and institutions had gone too far in making hygiene participative. No wonder, hygiene practices were deteriorating. To perpetuate a hygiene culture, we needed to focus on sustainable practices among children. Nothing motivates Indians like competitive exams do. So, to raise India's hygiene standards, we made it into an exam that Indians could excel in – the Dettol Hygiene Olympiad. Reaching 24 million children, we improved children's handwashing & sanitation practices by 75% and 69% respectively.
Strategy
To bring India's first hygiene Olympiad to life, we designed an entire ecosystem of hygiene education. Hygiene Curriculum Creation- 5 modules, 3 levels, 8 languages. Teacher Training- Capacity building workshops by experts. Partnerships & Collaborations to encourage participation- 100 partners and celebrity endorsers like Amitabh Bachchan. Telethon to felicitate the winners at the national level- NDTV-led event airing on television. Making the winners agents of change- Conferring them with the title of 'Hygiene Champions'. We created an entire ecosystem of hygiene education and evaluation through the Hygiene Olympiad - Creating a comprehensive hygiene curriculum comprising 5 modules to enhance children's reasoning, analytical and problem-solving skills in the context of hygiene. Teachers' training through capacity building workshops. Taking the Hygiene Curriculum to not just conventional schools but also religious educational institutes across India, with the belief- No Child is left behind. Partnerships and Collaborations to invite, encourage & inspire participation as well as excellence. Felicitating the winners of the Olympiad, thus fueling the desire of millions of children to be like them. Conferring the winners with the title of 'Hygiene Champions' so that they can be change agents in their schools and communities. The Olympiad was conducted as a continuous evaluation rather than a one-off activation. With the Hygiene Olympiad, we were able to- Improve children's handwashing & sanitation practices, while also reducing absenteeism in school. Bring out the areas needing attention to give proper orientation in areas lacking proficiency. Assess the gap in hygiene literacy in India.
Data
The Hygiene Olympiad was not just an initiative but became a movement across the country. While the initial budgets were utilized in creating and distributing the Hygiene Curriculum, Teacher Training and workshops across schools in the country, later on, the budgets were mostly utilized in inviting participations and conducting the Hygiene Olympiad. The winners were also felicitated with cash prizes.
Solution
Results
The Dettol Hygiene Olympiad was instrumental in achieving unparalleled improvement in Hygiene attitudes, knowledge and behaviours - thus positively impacting health and learning outcomes. Hygiene Curriculum & the Hygiene Olympiad contributed to- 14.2% reduction in diarrhoea among children. School Absenteeism due to preventable diseases reduced by 36%. Between 2022 and 2023. The Hygiene Curriculum and the Olympiad helped in contributing to the following- 250+ Schools awarded by PM under Swachh Vidyalaya (Clean School) Awards. Social Return on Investment- For every ₹ 1 invested in the Dettol School Hygiene Education, it delivers social value of 1:33 for conventional schools and 1:52 for Religious Educational Schools. This means that for every 1 rupee invested in the School Hygiene Education, delivers Rs 33 and Rs 52 of social value respectively.
