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TN town experiences ‘sanitation revolution’

Even in the crucial 10th standard, Malini (not the real name) used to stay away from school at least three days a month.

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Sanitary napkin vending machines in 570 schools will reach 90,000 girls

KRISHNAGIRI (Tamil Nadu): Even in the crucial 10th standard, Malini (not the real name) used to stay away from school at least three days a month. So did about 150 other students of the Mekalachinnampalli rural girls’ high school, 10 km from Krishnagiri in Tamil Nadu, during their menstrual periods. Today however, the school registers no absenteeism, as the girls walk up to a sanitary vending machine, get a napkin for Rs2 and confidently walk into the classrooms.

A silent ‘sanitation revolution’ is sweeping Krishnagiri, among the most backward districts in the country, as a Unicef-supported programme aims at making sanitary napkins available to 90,000 adolescent girls through vending machines and special counters in schools. Experts say this simple step will have long-reaching benefits in a district with high infant mortality rate, maternal mortality rate and gynaecological problems linked to poor menstrual hygiene.

“In the absence of napkins, the girls used to stay at home for fear of staining their uniforms. In villages, menstrual hygiene was either unheard of, or a taboo. Superstition has it that the cloth used during periods should not be exposed to the sun, resulting in the girls not changing the damp cloth, leading to fungal infections,” says Ganesh Moorthi, a Unicef consultant in Krishnagiri.

Spurred by the alarming level of awareness, Unicef project officer A Devaraj published a booklet titled ‘Take It Easy’, to be distributed to all adolescent girls in the district. “Besides educating the girls on menstrual hygiene, the booklet deals with symptoms of menstrual disorders,” says Devaraj.

Moves are afoot to procure vending machines that run on batteries to suit rural areas with erratic power supply. An incinerator to destroy used napkins will also be installed in the girls’ toilets. “All 570 schools with girl students will have napkin vending machines and incinerators by January 31, 2008,” says district collector Santhosh Babu. The programme also involves training one lady teacher from each school in making sanitary napkins using cotton, gauze and butter paper at a cost of less than Rs1.65.

While the Unicef programme called ‘integrated village planning’ is being implemented in 16 districts in the country, only in Krishnagiri has it been named ‘child-friendly village planning.’ Moorthi says at least 25 per cent of uterus removal surgeries in the district are due to poor menstrual hygiene. “This could be the beginning of a reversal of poor health indices in the district,” he adds.

arunram@dnaindia.net

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