Mortein concludes Dengue awareness program

Mortein, recently concluded its National Dengue Education and Awareness Program, 'Stop Diseases'. Held for the fourth consecutive year, the program reached over a million people in 200 cities.

The Mortein team educating the crowds on the prevention of mosquito breeding in the Colombo district.

The awareness campaign was initiated in early June 2010. With the escalating impact and increase of the disease, the company devised a cohesive implementation campaign in creating a Dengue free environment in the country.

The campaign in the Western, Central, South, North Central provinces covered over 200 main towns across the country. This was a collaborative effort by the provincial, municipal, urban councils and the voluntary police units, through multiple communication avenues and awareness building plus environment cleaning campaigns.

The Managing Director of Reckitt Benckiser Reazul Chowdhury said, "We initiated the project during a period in which there was an escalation and spread of the disease. Mortein which has a close relationship with the Sri Lankan market over a quarter of a century came forward to control this menace as a responsible corporate citizen. We are pleased with the success of our campaign. Mortein has undertaken different initiatives to educate the consumer on how best they can prevent all mosquito borne diseases. I would like to applaud our team, government official's, and the public for the enthusiasm shown to the campaign".

Product Group Manager Surangi Fernando said the project commenced during the Poson Festival in Anuradhapura and Katharagama, where over a million people gathered and were educated on disease prevention. Due to the large crowds gathered, the quantity of garbage too increased substantially. The campaign was able to speak to these individuals and collectively a clean up program was also conducted.

During Dengue Prevention Week the program was carried out in communities in Colombo district which reported the highest number of deaths due to the menace. The team distributed leaflets, stickers and also Mortein coils amongst heavily populated areas, such as housing schemes, bus stations, markets and religious institutes. Reaching out by communicating prevention possibilities, many banners, posters and notices, plus live updates on radio were shared.

Further strengthening the support, the Mortein team with the help of the government officials were actively involved in destroying potential breeding grounds in the Colombo district.