Domex Leads Fight Against Germs on World Toilet Day

I thought World Toilet Day was just a made up day and I thought that it was a joke but to my surprise it wasn't a joke at all.   World Toilet Day is observed annually on November 19 and it aims to put a spotlight on the 2.5 billion people across the globe who do not have access to clean, private and functional toilets.  So this World Toilet Day is really serious because it wants to eradicate or at least lessen the millions of inectious diseases brought by poor sanitation in public restrooms.


With this Unilever, through its Unilever Sustainable Living Plan, aims to improve the health and well-being of 1 billion people by 2020. Under this Billion Better Lives campaign, they aim to deliver sustainable sanitation. By leading the World Toilet Day celebration in the Philippines, Unilever aims to educate people about how diseases and even deaths can be prevented through proper sanitation.

In celebration of this year’s World Toilet Day, Unilever’s leading household cleaning brand, Domex, strengthened its support of the global cause by partnering with UNICEF and PPHA to uphold proper bathroom sanitation through an educational program to be rolled out across different public hospitals in Metro Manila. The brand aims to lead the movement to solve the country’s sanitation issues starting with government-owned facilities targeting treatment of communicable diseases. The initiative was started when they launched it in San Lazaro Hospital in Manila City on World Toilet Day, Nov. 19, 2012, which will be sustained through 2013.

This year’s World Toilet Day has mobilized UNICEF and the Philippine Public Health Association to join the cause. Representatives from said groups were also joined by Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim in fulfilling their respective duties on the international day of action.

“Unilever is committed to improve the health and well-being of 1 billion people globally by 2020 through the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan or “USLP”.” said Unilever Brand Marketing Manager, Jay Go. “Domex will play a huge role in making this a reality. The product, with its thick bleach formulation, is ideal in keeping the toilet germ-free, drastically reducing the risk of virus contamination thus preventing people from contracting illnesses like influenza, diarrhea, and hepatitis,” he said.


So why toilets?  As bacteria is known to thrive in environments with greater moisture levels, toilets become easy breeding grounds for these harmful microorganisms. In the Philippines, the problem is prevalent in public areas, particularly in schools and hospitals with communal toilet setups.

Virtually every surface in public restrooms, faucets, flushers, handles, doorknobs, and anything that comes into direct physical contact with humans are populated with germs, posing health and safety threats. The risk is further amplified in hospital restrooms, where users are commonly exposed to communicable diseases.