NSS volunteers organise awareness programme in slum

STATE TIMES NEWS

UDHAMPUR: NSS volunteer Vivek Parihar from University of Jammu on Tuesday organised donation-cum-awareness programme on topic menstrual hygiene and HIV/AIDS in the slum area of Udhampur.
Around 100 packs of sanitary napkins (bio-degradable) were also distributed in that area.
The awareness programme raised the knowledge about menstrual awareness among young girls and women of the area. Vivek said, “Women would have been the worst hit, as menstrual hygiene is very important to prevent infections. So, it is very important to maintain menstrual hygiene to avoid infections and most important is to spread maximum awareness about the importance of sanitary napkins.”
Volunteer Sonali added according to a report by Water Aid and Menstrual Health Alliance India, more than 120 million women and girls each use eight sanitary napkins per menstrual cycle, which results in 12 billion pads entering the waste stream annually in India.
In India, menstrual health is still considered a taboo subject, leaving women exposed to misinformation and myths associated with menstruation.
Globally, hundreds of millions of women and girls menstruate every day, many without the facilities to manage their menstrual health safely.
Vivek also made the people aware about the causes, prevention and symptoms of HIV/AIDS.
The volunteers present with Vivek during this donation cum awareness drive were Gourav, Kamni Karyal, Kumari Shafali, Sonali Bharti, Jyoti Devi, Rainu Devi, Kritika, Ritika Khajuria, Yashika Khajuria and Ashika Khajuria.