Two thousand peer educators to give
health tips in Malaprop
Project targets the entire society through students.
KOZHIKODE: As many as 2,000 peer educators have been
selected in Malappuram district to give health lessons to adolescents. The aim
is to make the society aware of the scientific basis of health, health
programmes, vaccinations and thus, form a wide network through students. The
project is being implemented in seven blocks under the Rashtriya Kishor
Swasthya Karyakram (RKSK) programme of the National Health Mission.
The core idea is to instill the scientific basis of health
in the public and thereby nail the many resistant forces including the
anti-vaccination lobby and quacks. “The peer educator would function equivalent
to that of the student police cadet (SPC) in school. If there is an issue of
substance abuse among students, the peer educator can successfully intervene,”
pointed out Deputy DMO Dr A. Shibulal.
Malappuram has strong vaccination resistant pockets and it
surfaced after the two deaths of diphtheria-afflicted students who were not
vaccinated last year. The seven blocks are Nilambur, Vandoor, Pookottoor,
Vengara, Neduva, Vettam and Valavannur. The RKSK project was piloted in
Palakkad and Wayanad last year.
“An
adolescent friendly health centre has been formed in each block. A trained peer
educator will take two-hour awareness classes once a week for 20 students. The
class will clear the doubts of the students and further queries could be
clarified at the centre concerned,” says Malappuram District Medical Officer
(DMO), Dr Sakeena K.
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