Bhubaneswar: A recent study by the Centre for Youth and Social Development (CYSD) claimed that the reproductive health of women suffered a setback during the COVID-19 pandemic. The survey was done on close to 700 women and 2,278 school-going kids in six districts, mostly tribal ones.
The study claimed that most women and adolescent girls struggled to get access to public health centres due to non-availability of public transports. The report highlighted the lack of access to healthcare services and more reliance of people on quacks and home treatment.
“While 66 per cent preferred traditional treatments, 13 per cent went to village quacks for their treatment,” the report said.
The survey said the menstrual health, as well as consumption of iron and folic acid, was majorly disrupted due to the pandemic. “The reproductive health services have been adversely affected. Out of the total respondents, only 40 per cent could be able to avail iron and folic acid tablets,” the report said.
“While inquiring about the sanitation aspect of adolescent girls, it was found that only 35 per cent of respondents had accessed sanitary napkins. School-going girls used to get a certain number of sanitary napkins every month from school free of cost,” the report said.
The CYSD study said ASHAs reported that they had no stock of sanitary napkins with them for distribution during the lockdown period.
It also said that 13.17 per cent of women were hungry and 19 per cent women skipped meals due to unavailability of food. The report also said that many lactating women were deprived of nutrition supplements from Anganwadi centres. “Among lactating mothers, 48% did not receive chhatua and eggs from Anganwadi centres,” the report said.
In terms of education, the study claimed that during COVID era, 70 per cent of families in six districts did not have smartphones. It also said that 40 per cent of schoolgirls received full sets of textbooks from schools.
The team conducted their survey in six districts namely-Koraput, Mayurbhanja, Keonjhar, Malkangiri, Rayagada and Khurdha.