Health Comes First on World Health Day

Safeguard celebrates putting family health first at the first Health Watch lecture

In celebration of the upcoming World Health day on April 7, Safeguard launches Health Watch, a lecture series aimed to equip Filipino moms with the information and the skills that they need to continue to keep their family healthy.

For 50 years, Safeguard continues to be committed to promoting health and hygiene, making the brand synonymous with family germ protection. Consistent with this mission, Safeguard understands that mothers strive to keep their family healthy by staying updated on current healthcare issues.

Every year, World Health Day is a reminder that health should come first. While every mom continues to think about health, the fact remains that there is still so much more that can be done to improve the health of every family and the nation.

In the first Health Watch lecture among mommy bloggers, UNICEF shared figures about the State of Filipino Children's Health. According to a report entitled "A Decade of Tracking Progress for Maternal, Newborn and Child Survival" conducted in 2015, the Philippines is among 26 countries which have contributed to 80% of global deaths of children under 5 years old.

A report by A Promise Renewed cited that 3 out of 100 children under 5 years old in the Philippines die due to health conditions (45%), pneumoniae (18%), and diarrhea (7%). As any mom would know, any child's death is one death too many - particularly when some of these deadly diseases are easily prevented through the simple act of handwashing. Handwashing with soap and water helps reduce the incidence of diarrhea among children by up to 5% and respiratory illnesses such as pneumonia by up to 25%. Among infants, handwashing has also helped reduced infections, which constitute 16% of neonatal conditions.

Procter & Gamble, through Safeguard, partners with UNICEF to address this problem by implementing its Water, Sanitation and Health (WASH) Program, which includes health and hygiene education among children.

However, beyond this program to help reduce the incidences of deadly diseases, Safeguard also recognises the importance of health in the context of everyday activities at home. On World Health Day, Safeguard emphasizes that proper hygiene every day also plays an important role in keeping families healthy.

At the first Health Watch lecture, Safeguard taught mothers about First Aid basics, including proper wound care, in partnership with the Philippine Red Cross (PRC). According to the PRC,  the simple act of washing a wound with soap has been beneficial in reducing infections among children, infections which could eventually develop to more serious diseases. Wounds are often the primary entry point of germs and bacteria, thus, wound care is considered a crucial step in disease prevention.

Proper sanitation is equally important among moms as the First Aiders before treating their children's minor burns and wounds. Parents must be aware that the first important step is washing their hands before treating their children. Washing the wound with soap and water for 5 minutes also greatly reduces the chance of infection, tetanus, scarring, and tattooing of the skin from dirt left in the wound.

Whether it's a serious disease like diarrhea on everyday complaint like a new wound from playing outdoors, moms always have to be on alert to keep their family protected. The trusted name in family germ protection, Safeguard is moms' partner in health.

On World Health Day and beyond, Safeguard puts your family's health first. 50 years of protection, 50 years of Safeguard. Health comes first.