RACINE, Wis., April 13, 2017- SC Johnson, the maker of trusted household products like Glade®, Raid®, Scrubbing Bubbles® and Ziploc®, announced the donation of nearly 90,000 cans of OFF!® Deep Woods® and OFF!® FamilyCare to Headwaters Relief Organization, a disaster relief agency. The products will be distributed throughout Haiti, a country whose citizens are in need of personal repellants to help fight mosquito-borne disease like Zika. As of September 2016, Haiti has reported nearly 3,000 suspected cases of Zika, according to U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“As we’ve seen in the past, Zika and other mosquito-borne illnesses have the power to impact lives,” said Kelly M. Semrau, Senior Vice President – Global Corporate Affairs, Communication and Sustainability, SC Johnson. “We’re happy to provide this donation to Headwaters who, because of their vast network of connections in Haiti, can quickly and efficiently get OFF!® personal repellent into the hands of impacted individuals and families.”
This donation is a part of SC Johnson’s ongoing commitment to donate at least $15 million in resources to combat the rising global outbreak of mosquito-borne disease. To date, more than $8 million of OFF!® products and financial donations have been provided to organizations around the world, especially those in regions with high risk of Zika virus and dengue fever outbreaks.
“Prevention and treatment of Zika is a serious public health challenge. If you can prevent yourself from being bitten by a mosquito, you can stop the spread of the disease,” said Dr. Rebecca S. Hage Thomley, Founder, Headwaters Relief Organization. “That’s why we’ve spent the past two years developing education initiatives that give the people of Haiti ways to prevent infection. This generous donation from SC Johnson amplifies our efforts, allowing us to now give people both the knowledge and tools they need to prevent mosquito-borne illnesses like Zika. I feel this donation will save lives.”
Headwaters Relief Organization is a disaster relief collaboration of volunteers that supports the needs of families and communities affected by disaster both in the United States and globally. Headwaters is supported by donations. Setting an example for other NGOs, 100 percent of public donations to Headwaters Relief directly support victims of disaster. Working in Haiti since the 2010 earthquake, this donation of personal repellent spray is the largest product donation that Headwaters has ever helped to distribute. This donation will provide impacted families with preventative resources against mosquitoes that may carry disease, complimenting two years of Headwaters’ public health education and initiatives in Haiti.
Zika virus is spread mostly by the bite of an infected Aedes aegypti species mosquito. Infection during pregnancy has been known to cause certain birth defects.
SC Johnson is the world’s largest manufacturer of insect repellents and household insecticides, including OFF!®, Autan®, Raid® and Baygon®. For 60 years, SC Johnson entomologists have studied insects at the Entomology Research Center in Racine, the largest private, urban entomology research center in the world.
For more information, please go to www.scjohnson.com/mosquitoes