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Manipal University will take steps to create awareness about personal hygiene among women and adolescent girls from the economically weaker section of society, according to Dr H.S. Ballal, Pro-Chancellor of Manipal University.
Launching ‘Sneha' – a personal hygiene product for women and adolescent girls from the economically weaker section of society – on the occasion of International Women's Day at Manipal on Tuesday, Dr Ballal said the university would provide all assistance to ensure the project covers more and more areas. “It is an important factor as far as education is concerned, as a number of girls drop out of schools when they attain puberty simply because they lack awareness about personal hygiene and their inability to buy sanitary napkins,” he said.
Basic hygiene issues
Manipal Foundation (a charitable trust of the Manipal Group) has taken up the cause of addressing basic hygiene problems of rural and urban adolescent girls and poor women in Karnataka initially and pan-India by the end of the year, he added.
The product was jointly launched by the Community Medicine Department of Kasturba Medical College, Manipal, and Manipal Institute of Technology.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr Veena Kamath, Professor and Head Community Medicine Department, said the personal hygiene support programme was started on May 7, 2009 at Kukkudakatte, Parkala, in Udupi disitrct with an objective of empowering rural women.
Target women
This was initiated as a pilot project and a women's self-help group was selected from the local area and trained by the resource person. For the success of the project, the community targeted anganwadi workers, rural adolescent school-going girls and rural women during SHG meetings in Udupi district. A number of activities have been carried out over the last 21 months with the help of local sponsors, she said.
Prof Y.N. Sharma of the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Manipal Institute of Technology, Manipal, said that the Department of Mechanical Engineering, with the help of the Incubation Centre, has improvised the equipment required for the manufacture of ‘Sneha' the sanitary napkins.
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