With the family’s health a top priority for mums everywhere, Dettol’s Mission for Health launches today to promote a healthier environment in the home, in the community and beyond. This will be done through some key initiatives; Dettol’s new mums programme, healthy habits lessons in schools and through its partnership with Save the Children. Dettol is going above and beyond standard hygiene education by reaching out to mums, teachers and the wider community to raise awareness on the simple ways we can all promote a healthier environment around us.

But as with most things, Dettol’s Mission for Health is best started in the home so the task needn’t be so daunting! Partnering with mums, Mission for Health suggests ways they can do more to create a healthier home.

Dr Dawn Harper, of channel 4’s ‘Embarrassing Bodies’ fame, along with the BBC’s hygiene expert Dr Lisa Ackerley and Prima Baby’s expert midwife Nikki Khan are all supporting the campaign giving practical advice on how mums can improve hygiene at home especially for those mums who are expecting or are about to bring home a new baby.

“Mums are naturally eager to do their best for their family, to keep them happy and healthy. But with our hectic lifestyles, standards may slip! How many of us mums know our kitchen floor or bathroom taps are not cleaned as often as we like or worry about harmful germs elsewhere in the home? No one is perfect but by being more aware of health and hygiene habits in the home a big difference can be made,” comments Dr Harper.

Dr Lisa Ackerley is also on hand to offer her advice. She explains: “This campaign is really reaching out to give support and make our home a healthier environment for the family. This can be done in part by getting the fundamentals of good home hygiene in place. Mission for Health wants to give mums the knowledge and tips to help keep their home clean and healthy.”

Dr Dawn Harper concludes: “By explaining how to improve hygiene in the home, with simple and easy steps and reminders, Dettol Mission for Health really starts to make an impact in the home. And not to forget, good habits learned in the home will also give children the right start in taking these healthy habits into the classroom and use them throughout their lives.”

Out of the home Mission for Health will work with a group of teachers to develop useful materials to help deliver against the national curriculum to develop healthy habits in schools. Aimed at nursery and infant school children resources cover three main areas; Healthy Me, Healthy Community and Healthy World, lessons teaching the importance of being able to enjoy outside and indoor play but with attention also placed on the importance of incorporating health habits, for example hand washing after play time.

And to lead by example Dettol is also supporting Save the Children’s work with children both in the UK and overseas. Globally the funds it provides will enable the charity to distribute disaster relief items and safeguard the health of children in the crucial first hours following an emergency. In the UK the Eat, Sleep, Learn, Play! project will work with health visitors targeting families who have had a baby in the last 12 months with low income to give them non-cash material grants. These will help to fund cookers, children’s beds, books and educational toys to further help promote a healthier living environment for the 100,000 babies born into severe poverty every year.

Some starting points for those joining Dettol’s Mission for Health:

• Regularly disinfect commonly touched surfaces as some harmful germs can survive on surfaces for longer periods, which can then be transferred to other surfaces in sufficient numbers, representing a risk to catch them and develop an infection

• Use a surface cleanser with proven efficacy to kill 99.9% of harmful bacteria and viruses including E.coli, Salmonella, MRSA and the flu virus

• Practice good hand hygiene; wash hands regularly with an antibacterial hand wash and dry thoroughly.

• If soap and water are not available, use a hand sanitizer. There are many gel and foam varieties available for use while out and about

• Practice good cough and sneezing etiquette - always cover your nose and mouth with a tissue and dispose of immediately

• Avoid touching your mouth, nose and eyes with your hands. This will reduce your chances of getting infected

Dr Lisa Ackerley's top tips for a healthier home:

1. Encourage children to wash their hands by having a step available for them to reach the tap and make sure they like the smell of the soap so they are keen to use it

2. Singing happy birthday twice through is the amount of time you should spend washing your hands

3. Remember to put soft toys in the wash as they too harbour bacteria

4. Don't put your bags on the work surfaces when you get in for the day, just think about where you've put your bag down during the day...

5. Make sure to defrost meat in a deep dish so the meat juice doesn't drip onto any other food and store meat or poultry away from foods that will not be cooked

6. Always remember to wash your hands when interrupted during preparing raw chicken or meat – and afterwards!

7. Remember remote controls and phones can harbour a lot of germs as well so clean now and then

8. Concentrate on cleaning bathroom taps as much as the toilet flush handle, as taps can carry lots of germs and bacteria

To learn more and get involved in Dettol's Mission for Health visit www.dettol.co.uk/missionforhealth