At the heart of our mission
"Without good hygiene, consumers are vulnerable to a wide range of infectious diseases that not only have the potential to severely undermine the quality of their lives, but even to end their lives prematurely," says Corporate Development director Clive Butler.
"And the reality is that hygiene standards remain woefully low around the world, reflected in the high incidence of infectious intestinal diseases (IIDs), such as diarrhoea."
Although the IID problem is most severe in developing countries, where two million children die each year from diarrhoea, it is also a major issue in industrialised nations. The risks are likely to intensify, says Sally Bloomfield, a member of the International Scientific Forum on Home Hygiene (IFH), which is funded by Unilever. "As populations age and the incidence of immuno-deficient diseases such as AIDS rises, more people will be vulnerable to the consequences of poor hygiene."
"Infectious diseases are also hopping around the world quicker than before due to globalisation, as we saw with SARS. In some cases, you can’t treat these with antibiotics as they’re viral; others are bacterial but resistant to antibiotics, such as the hospital superbug MRSA (Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus)."
New pathogens – agents that can cause disease – are constantly appearing. Since the 1970s, at least one new pathogen has been recorded each year. Good hygiene is often the only way to avoid many pathogens and their consequences.
One of the main stumbling blocks, says Dr Val Curtis at the London School of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, is that most people do not use one of the world’s most basic and widely available home hygiene products – the humble bar of soap. "Hands are a superhighway for transmitting germs, but most people don’t wash their hands with soap and water at key times," she explains.
"If everyone washed their hands properly, we could halve the number of children who die from diarrhoeal diseases and possibly cut the number of upper respiratory tract diseases by a third."
So what’s Unilever doing? How we communicate hygiene issues to consumers is playing a vital role in the success of our brands, says Walter Gibson, bioscience group leader, Research & Development, Hygiene & Personal Care. "There’s a lot we can learn from the social and psychological sciences. But we also need to look carefully at the types of products we use and the delivery mechanisms," he says.
Hygiene & Personal Care marketing president Simon Clift says: “With our strong heritage in hygiene and branding combined with our deep consumer insights, we are in a unique position to bring vitality to life in a powerful way.”
