RB & UNAIDS partner in Africa

Johannesburg, 17 April 2020 - In the wake of the Coronavirus pandemic, UNAIDS and Reckitt Benckiser Group plc (RB) are joining forces to help protect people living with HIV across Africa. Working through the UNAIDS network, the partnership hopes to reach approximately 220,000 individuals across 22 countries in Africa with Hygiene packs that include a three-month supply of Dettol bar soap and JIK bleach. The market value of these products is around R 42 million.

The initiative to distribute the hygiene packs is part of RB’s “Fight for Access Fund”, which aims to improve access to health, hygiene and nutrition for all. For more information on RB’s ‘Fight for Access Fund’ visit https://www.rb.com/media/news/2020/march/rblaunches-fight-for-access-fund/

“Reckitt Benckiser’s purpose is to protect, heal and nurture in the relentless pursuit of a cleaner, healthier world,” says Russell Taylor, Regional Director Africa, Health, for Reckitt Benckiser. “We want and need to play our part in stemming the effects of the pandemic and we can do this by providing access to our high-quality hygiene products – 2 million bars of Dettol soap. By partnering with UNAIDS, we can reach specific groups of people who need them the most. We have a long-standing commitment to the Global Fund, UNAIDS and RED to combat HIV and AIDS and this latest commitment is in addition to our current Durex partnership that will help keep 40k girls in South Africa to continue their education.” “Brands like JIK have a critical role to play in promoting hygiene in the fight against health pandemics”, says Rahul Murgai, Regional Director Africa, Hygiene, for Reckitt Benckiser. “JIK has a strong heritage and roots in Africa of providing laundry and surface disinfection for years. In these pressing times we are partnering with UNAIDS to donate 672,000 JIK bleach bottles to ensure that world class disinfection is accessible to the most vulnerable in our society”.

“UNAIDS will be working closely with communities and networks of people living with HIV at a country level in the coming weeks to facilitate distribution of the hygiene packs from RB. As we continue to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic in this region, it is important that communities lead and that we put people at the centre,” said Aeneas Chuma, Director of the UNAIDS RST ESA.

UNAIDS

The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) leads and inspires the world to achieve its shared vision of zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS-related deaths. UNAIDS unites the efforts of 11 UN organizations—UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP, UNDP, UNFPA, UNODC, UN Women, ILO, UNESCO, WHO and the World Bank—and works closely with global and national partners towards ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030 as part of the Sustainable Development Goals. Learn more at unaids.org and connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.