Lifebuoy’s new thermometer provides free health consultations

Hygiene soap brand Lifebuoy has collaborated with telehealth service Halodoc and the Bandung Health Polytechnic to introduce compact thermometers that come with complimentary access to doctor consultations.

Supported by the brand’s agency Edelman Singapore and Indonesia, the campaign aims to offer communities in Bandung, West Java, a vital lifeline for the early detection of fever symptoms tied to common, yet preventable, ailments such as diarrhoea.

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Titled ‘Sentuhan Sehat’ (Touch of Health), each specially designed Lifebuoy soap pack comes with a reusable thermometer and a QR code affixed to its packaging. Through the QR code, families will be given access to complimentary health consultations with Halodoc's medical professionals.

“The convenience of telehealth services is believed to address the high anxiety of parents regarding their children's health, which ultimately leads to self-medication behaviours,” said Erfan Hidayat, head of skin cleansing at Unilever Indonesia.

“Hopefully, this collaboration can make people realise that disease prevention is just as important as treatment and open access for more people to obtain accurate health information and care,” added Hidayat.

The campaign was motivated by Indonesia’s 2020 Health Profile data that revealed that Indonesians are more prone to diarrhoea during the monsoon season, especially for children. In fact, diarrhoea was the second leading cause of death among infants aged 29 days to 11 months (9.8%) and toddlers aged 12 to 59 months (4.5%).

As a common symptom of diarrhoea is fever, which usually spikes when children become more ill, the campaign aims to serve as a pre-emptive health management tool.

“Through the provision of free doctor consultation services on Halodoc, we hope that parents will become more proactive when their children experience fever as it serves as an early symptom of various diseases such as dengue fever or other infections,” explained Veronica Utami, chief operating officer of Halodoc,

“We want to emphasise the importance of reaching out to parents who have limited access to healthcare services and sharing knowledge about good hygiene principles—including ways to keep babies and young children safe from preventable diseases,” added Yonan Heriyanto, M. Kes., head of the dental health department at Bandung Health Polytechnic.

Lifebuoy aims to support the government’s programs in reducing mortality due to diarrhoea under the age of five, as stated by the Ministry of Health in the National Action Plan for 2023–2030, said the brand.

As Lifebuoy has hygiene at the heart of its campaigns, in 2022, it recruited 100,000 children aged between six and 12 across 20 countries as chief education officers (CEOs) for its "H for Handwashing" campaign.

Their primary role will be to use their voice to spread the hand hygiene message to other kids. Each child was chosen due to their passion for impacting their local community in different ways, and this initiative is part of Global Handwashing Day.

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