Harpic marks ‘World Toilet Day’ 2020 by joining battle against COVID-19

A few of the renovated facilities at the Sooriyawewa Hospital

Marking ‘World Toilet Day’ held on 19 November, Reckitt Benckiser’s Harpic funded renovation of sanitary facilities at the Suriyawewa Hospital through the brand’s overreaching CSR initiative ‘Harpic Mission Wellbeing’ (Harpic Suwa Jana Meheyuma). 

Mindful of the timely need for enhanced facilities at hospitals during the pandemic, Harpic went on to renovate other necessary facilities throughout the hospital as well. World Toilet Day, an official United Nations’ international observance day, seeks to tackle the global sanitation crisis.

Expressing his gratitude to the ‘Harpic Wellbeing Mission’, District Medical Officer in Suriyawewa, W.H. Mahindarathna said, “Maintaining and renovating sanitation facilities at the Suriyawewa Hospital had been a challenge for hospital authorities for a long time. Especially in a poverty-stricken area like this where it’s hard to find philanthropists, this initiative by Harpic truly manifests their commitment to the cause of World Toilet Day. On behalf of patients, staff and residents in the area, we wish to thank Harpic for renovating not only sanitation but other facilities at the Suriyawewa Hospital. This commendable project provided relief to patients who visit the hospital daily.”

“Annually, we mark World Toilet Day with CSR projects to develop public sanitation facilities in the country and in the past we have rolled out many such initiatives. This year, in view of the COVID-19 crisis, we decided to focus our attention on the healthcare sector and utilised a significant portion of Harpic Mission Wellbeing’s funds for this purpose. During the next phase of this project, we will renovate and improve sanitation facilities at the Anuradhapura General Hospital and the Ayurvedic Hospital in Kandy,” commented Reckitt Benckiser Lanka Ltd. Product Group Manager – Hygiene/Homecare Category Chathurika Fonseka.

While Harpic carries out annual special projects on the Word Toilet Day, the Brand reaches beyond the official day to consistently uplift sanitation standards across the country through its four-pronged CSR program, Harpic Mission Wellbeing. Accordingly, the brand works towards building public sanitation facilities, installing mobile sanitation facilities at the events of religious and cultural importance for the benefit of pilgrims, building sanitation facilities for those who are in need and educating young children about proper sanitation practices.

“Harpic Mission Wellbeing is a fully-fledged CSR program dedicated to find lasting solutions for sanitation related challenges that prevail across the country. Hence, our program runs throughout the year, supporting communities that need help. At the moment, we’ve started focusing our efforts towards contributing to the battle against the COVID-19 pandemic and we aim to continuously support the authorities and the public throughout the crisis,” commented Chathurika Fonseka.

Harpic Mission Wellbeing, through the year 2019, has reached out to three million Sri Lankans through its four key programs and plans to reach out to millions more in future.