City hospital distributes sanitary napkins to girls

Bengaluru: On the occasion of National Girl Child Day, Specialist Hospital, Kalyan Nagar, organized a special education and health awareness drive at Nagayanapalya, Maruthi Seva Nagar, aimed at underprivileged children in the area on Sunday.

Hospital authorities also distributed sanitary napkins to the children and explained them the proper use and disposal. The program was addressed by Dr. Shafiq, CEO and co-founder, Specialist Hospital.

Addressing the children, Dr Shafiq said, "Daughters are the most precious gifts from God and we are here to express our solidarity with these special people on this day. The main reason for this initiative is to spread awareness about the importance of health and cleanliness especially during the menstruation cycle among young girls. The idea is to create awareness about the do's and don'ts and to instill in these youngsters, the role that education would play and how it could better their lives as adults."

"During this event, we distributed sanitary napkins as a gesture of Specialist Hospital's solidarity. We intend to make this a monthly initiative and will conduct such events where senior faculty from the hospital will address these children at least once in every 3-6 months and provide the opportunity for them to interact with us on a one-to-one basis," he added.

Addressing the children, head nurse Gladys impressed upon the children the need to focus on education, hygiene and gender equality. "We are in the 21st century where a number of women have become leaders in their own right. I think it is time for each one of you to scale your dreams and model yourself on any one of today's women leaders. The priority for you should be to focus on qualifying yourself so that you can get suitable employment so as to take care of not only yourself but your families as well. Being the National Day of the Girl Child, it would be apt for me to add that personal hygiene is very important especially during your menstrual days. Ensuring a healthy lifestyle will give you the added impetus to enhance your work life."

During the event several children expressed their ambition to become teachers, doctors and nurses. Darshini an 8th grade student, wanted to become a teacher while 12-year-old Namitha aspires to be a doctor and provide free medical assistance to patients. 10-year-old Julie said that she was very impressed with the initiative of Specialist Hospital mentioning that it was very informative and helpful for young girls, while Shiny expressed her desire to be a paediatrician.