Overview of adolescent health program of SMC
The adolescent health program is one of the flagship programs of SMC started in 2017 with the financial support of USAID. Currently, the program is being implemented by the four implemented partners (CWFD, PSTC, Sachetan Society and Shimantik) in 112 upazilas. Health sessions are conducted at educational institutions (schools, colleges & madrasas) and at the community level to raise awareness on adolescent health and nutrition issues.
Special campaign on adolescent health 2023
Like last year, this special campaign provided opportunities to adolescent boys and girls on easy access to quality and comprehensive adolescent health messages and services by disseminating messages on child marriage, teenage pregnancy, adolescents' health, anti-drug, menstrual management, Gender-based Violence (GBV) by using a flipchart. The campaign lasted for four months from May to August 2023.
Implementation strategies of special adolescent campaign
This campaign has been executed by the four implementing partners of SMC. The partner NGOs have recruited 280 field staff. At the beginning of the campaign, an orientation program was organized for the field staff to make them familiar with the concept, importance, implementation modalities, and processes of this health campaign. The health sessions with adolescents were arranged at educational institutions and communities. Almost 96% of the health sessions were held at educational institutes where 621,371 adolescents attended and the rest were held in the community level with 26,686 adolescents.
Campaign reach
The campaign reached a total of 648,057 adolescents by organizing 16,277 sessions with adolescent girls and boys (girls 60% and boys 40%) during this campaign period. The following table shows the details of the reach of the campaign:
There was a quiz competition among the adolescents during the session where 5 participants were rewarded with bags and rulers with labeling key health messages. A total of 587,479 brochures focusing on health and nutrition messages and 160,434 leaflets on anti-drug and anti-smoking were distributed among the adolescents during this campaign.
Outcomes of the campaign
This campaign helped to reach a big number of adolescents in just four months period. Compared to last year, 141,759 more adolescents reached in this year by adding new 11 upazilas. This is quite useful in creating awareness, improving knowledge and changing the behaviors of adolescents within the shortest time. This campaign triggered a remarkable increase in the sales volume of Joya sanitary napkins of SMC. The following graph shows the sales of SMC sanitary napkin ‘Joya' and Easy Clean during the campaign period (May-August 2023) over the last four months starting the campaign (January - April 2023):
The sales of Joya during the campaign period (May-August, 2023) increased by 51 percent compared to the sales of the previous four months (January-April, 2023) period. Similarly, Easy Clean sales have increased by 28 percent. The increased sales volume in these products indicates the positive effects of the campaign.
TV Campaign on Adolescent Health: 'Shwapnojoyee' Episode 1-6
