The Department of Health (DOH) has teamed up with leading consumer goods manufacturer of health and hygiene products P&G Philippines and the US Agency for International Development (USAID) to empower Filipinos to curb the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic through a nationwide education campaign while enabling healthier and safer homes.

BIDA, which stands for Bawal walang mask, Isanitize ang kamay, Iwas hawak sa mga bagay, Dumistansya ng isang metro, and Alamin ang totoong impormasyon, is an easy to remember acronym of key preventive measures each Filipino can do to be part of the solution to fighting COVID-19.

“BIDA Solusyon sa COVID-19 is an initiative to empower each Filipino to fight the virus by practicing healthy habits and preventive measures in their household and in their daily routines. P&G has been a long-time partner of DOH in promoting health and hygiene such as during SARS or H1N1. Public-private partnerships help us reach and educate more of our countrymen so together we can all contain the virus and spare lives. We also thank P&G’s partners like supermarkets, stores and TV networks who are helping DOH and P&G make BIDA Solusyon reach millions of Filipinos. Beyond mass education, P&G is also providing DOH and USAID with its best hygiene products for our BIDA home kits which will be given to thousands of vulnerable families and those located in high-risk areas across the country to enable them to keep their homes protected during these times,” said Dr. Beverly Lorraine C. Ho, Director IV of the DOH’s Health Promotion and Communication Service.

The DOH and P&G, in partnership with USAID, will provide BIDA home kits to 70,000 Filipinos in 36 provinces across the country to help them practice the prescribed behaviors for COVID-19 prevention. Each kit will contain a two-week supply of trusted P&G products such as Safeguard bath soap, Head and Shoulders shampoo, Joy dishwashing liquid, and Ariel laundry detergent, Oral B toothbrushes, fabric masks and other health and hygiene products. The distribution of BIDA home kits will help local government units manage COVID-19 community outbreaks, and will help families protect their homes especially for the vulnerable members such as the elderly, pregnant, immuno-compromised, and young children.

USAID identified areas nationwide that will be provided with P&G’s BIDA kits. The international development agency selected local government units (LGUs) with COVID hotspots and quarantine centers, locally stranded individuals, and temporary shelters. They also prioritized regions and cities with high case fatality rate, highest population density, those that have lower level of available resources and are at high risk for sustained community transmission.

Earlier on, P&G had repurposed its manufacturing expertise to produce one million medical-grade face masks, which it donated to the Department of Health and other health authorities to protect healthcare frontliners.

“P&G is using our brands, our expertise in media, marketing and sales, and our network and reach to be a Force for Good. We are one with the country in the fight against COVID-19. P&G and DOH have always shared the same intent of keeping Filipino families and consumers safe and healthy. Providing access to health, hygiene, and sanitation products, matched with mass media education about hygiene practices, are part of P&G’s core mission to safeguard the health of Filipinos,” shared P&G General Manager Raffy Fajardo.

P&G has also sponsored the production and airing of DOH BIDA Solusyon sa COVID-19 mass education videos to educate millions of Filipinos about everyday home sanitation practices they are responsible for, such as handwashing with soap for 20 seconds, bathing after coming home, laundering clothes worn outside, and cleaning the kitchen areas and meal utensils. The videos will air on TV, digital, social media and radio, sharing how simple practices could protect their homes and loved ones and turn every citizen into a “bida” or hero against COVID-19.

They have also produced BIDA Solusyon sa COVID-19 hygiene solution centers in 96 supermarket doors that together could reach around four million people every day. The hygiene solution centers will promote awareness for health and safety practices at home and enable citizens with a faster way to shop their needs all in one place. This is helpful as stores limit the number of customers at a time to practice physical distancing, therefore creating long waiting lines for shoppers to enter.

Photo Credit: Facebook/Department of Health (Philippines)