Seven out of 10 adolescent girls faced problem in procuring sanitary pads during the lockdown in Rajasthan, reveals a study by a non-government organisation (NGO).

“It is deeply worrying that 70% of young female adolescents have had zero access to sanitary napkins during the lockdown,” said Poonam Muttreja, executive director, Population Foundation of India (PFI), which carried out the rapid assessment among 1,000 people across Rajasthan, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.

“Things need to change at the ground level. The government needs to distribute sanitary napkins through the ASHA and ANM workers’ network. It takes tremendous convincing on the part of frontline workers to encourage and educate school-going girls to use sanitary napkins,” she added.

Muttreja said the unmet need of adolescent girls is bound to have an adverse effect in the coming months. “The unavailability of sanitary napkins can push up the worrisome school drop out rates for girls. This could impact the young girl psychologically as well as lead to health issues,” she said.

The idea behind the study was to understand the level of knowledge of the young population (15-24 years) regarding Covid-19; how it has impacted their lives and mental health, and their needs and priorities.

The survey gave several critical insights into some of the worst fears that health care experts have had about adolescents during the lockdown, Muttreja said.

The main areas of impact were the effect on mental health; sources to obtain information on Covid-19; increase in workload at home and increase in unmet need for sanitary napkins since schools were shut.

The other findings in Rajasthan were that 23% of the total respondents listed schools as a reliable source of information on Covid-19. The school administration worked in disseminating information about the pandemic. A whopping 84% said that TV was the main source of information on Covid-19

The study also revealed that 33% of young adolescents in Rajasthan witnessed an increase in tension and fights at home during the lockdown.

Two out of every 10 adolescents that PFI spoke with felt depressed due to the lockdown. The study further revealed that many feelings of anxiety or depression could be traced to economic uncertainty, the inability to move outside and socialise, and fears of the virus itself.