Awareness on Menstrual Health and Hygiene

Brief about the project :
Project on Menstrual Health and Hygiene in adolescent girls and tribal women: Menstrual Health and Hygiene (MHH) is essential to the well-being and empowerment of women and adolescent girls. On any given day, more than 300 million women worldwide are menstruating. In total, an estimated 500 million lack access to menstrual products and adequate facilities for menstrual hygiene management (MHM). A majority of tribal women and adolescent girls don’t know how to protect their health and maintain hygiene during the most uncomfortable days of menstrual period. As an action-oriented NGO our RDWS and its field team, who observed the problem, has been providing sanitary napkins to those living in various villages of Datti Rajeru and Mentada mandal in Vizianagaram district. Our RDWS has started ‘Swecha’ a programme to create health awareness among the women and girls about the importance of personal hygiene, particularly during menstrual period. Many women and girls feel shy about talking about problems during menstrual period. A majority of them are adopting age-old practices to ensure cleanliness in internal organs. The old customs and taboos are leading to many health problems. Under the Swecha Project, we are supplying them quality sanitary napkins each costing 28. The adolescent girls who are being educated are helping their mothers in using them. Proper disposal is also explained to them during awareness programmes. As many as 3,652 sanitary napkins were distributed to needy women and girls in various villages including Papayyavalasa, Jirikavalasa, Yeeraavanivalasa, Kondaparthi, Basalapadu, Lotugedda and others. Self-help groups which got training in stitching are making those sanitar y napkins in RDWS centre located near Gajapathinagaram in the district.

“I used to feel that it was a curse to be born as a female with monthly ordeal. Now, I am able to lead a happy life in those days too with the proper use of sanitary napkins given by Swecha team of RDWS,” said Kameswari, a 9th class student of Zilla Parishad High School located near Gajapathinagaramtown.

Adolescence is one of the most fascinating periods of human life that marks the transition from being a dependent child to an independently functioning adult. The health related experiences, attitudes and behaviour of these adolescent age groups intimately linked to their social, educational and economic aspirations and options, which will have a strong impact on the future of the Indian society. Several studies reveal the magnitude of the challenges working with this age group. Forty four percent of girls in the age group of 15-19 years in India are illiterate. Thirty three percent of women in India are married by the age of 15. Unfortunately, the unique developmental, sexual and reproductive health needs of this segment of Indian population are poorly understood and undeserved

Beneficiaries: 3652

Project Location : Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram, Srikakulam, Alluri Sitaraaraju and Parvathipuram Manyam Districts in Andhra Pradesh and Koraput, Rayagada and Gajapati Districts in Odisha, India..