New Initiative to Raise Children's Awareness of Personal Hygiene Habits

Asia Pulp & Paper Group (APP) and China Business News have jointly initiated a new corporate social responsibility initiative aiming to enhance awareness of personal hygiene and help cultivate healthier lifestyle habits among youths living in Chinas rural areas. As part of the initiative, APP-China will collaborate with schools in rural regions to support and educate students on the proper use of paper products to maintain their hygiene and health.

The new joint initiative commences with a pilot program in Hainan province in China, following a two-month extensive study on the hygiene and lifestyle habits of rural school children in China, conducted by China Business News and the Guangdong College of Pharmacy. Offering insight into the personal hygiene conditions of children living in Chinas rural regions, the survey found that the practice of proper hygiene habits among rural students was far behind that of students residing in cities within the same age groups, emerging as a widespread problem resulting from the disparity of development in different regions of the country.

Results of the study indicated that the practice of basic personal hygiene habits was lacking among those surveyed, contributing to a mere 50 percent habit rate. Particularly, the findings suggest that 80 percent of the children surveyed rarely or had never used tissue paper for sanitary purposes at schools.

According to the study, these unhygienic habits are rife among children living in rural areas due to the absence of proper personal hygiene concepts, signifying the need for further educational efforts.

In light of these findings, APP-China has proactively joined hands with China Business News in launching the new corporate social responsibility program, spearheading efforts to promote awareness of personal hygiene and proper lifestyle habits among school children in rural areas as the basis for positive development in their lives.

Commenting on the program, Liu Fang, deputy director of China Business News CSR Division, expressed confidence in the new program: We are delighted to collaborate with APP-China on this meaningful endeavor, which extends corporate social responsibility to the realm of education and providing guidance for our younger generation.

To highlight the role of household paper use in maintaining personal hygiene, APP-China and its subsidiary Gold Hongye Paper have donated various sanitary paper products worth over 50,000 yuan (almost US $8,000) to the local Yangpu Number One Elementary School for this semester, as the first step in an initiative that underlines APP-Chinas corporate citizenship with combined offerings of its products and expertise.

To further emphasize the importance of the school environment and education in cultivating the best habits in children, experts from APPs Hainan mill facility Jinhai Pulp & Paper collaborated with the school in a pilot initiative to give introductory classes on environmental protection, with the aim to instill in students concepts of good lifestyle and hygiene habits that contribute to protection of the environment. The mill also arranged a tour for students to visit its production facilities, enlightening them on the importance of paper as a precious resource.

As an enterprise firmly committed to corporate citizenship and aiding local community development in China, APP will continue its strong efforts in rural regions to help our next generation foster appropriate and positive habits that will benefit their health and growth in the long run, says Kevin Zhang, PR director of APP-China.

As an ongoing and long-term initiative, APP-China will continue to engage different schools in Chinas rural regions as partners in this CSR program, incorporating paper donations, enhancement of school facilities, student volunteer teams and mill visits to foster maximum awareness among students.