The Hunger Project Ghana and the Okere District Health Directorate have observed the World Menstrual Hygiene Day at Akode Epicentre in the Okere District of the Eastern Region to raise awareness of the benefits of menstrual hygiene.
About 70 women from adjoining communities were screened for cervical cancer as part of the day’s celebration.
The Akode Epicenter is one of the over 40 epicentres constructed by The Hunger Project in Ghana, commissioned in 2012, and comprised a CHPS compound, nurses’ quarters, conference room, Information and Communication Technology Centre, community bank and vocational training centre.
Madam Consolata Dassah, the Director of Programmes at The Hunger Project (THP), said the Project’s studies had shown that a lack of proper menstrual hygiene practices could result in cervical cancer, hence the need to provide young girls with the necessary sanitary materials to prevent infections.
It strived to end hunger and poverty through a holistic approach that empowered women and men in rural communities to become the agents of their own development and made sustainable progress in eliminating hunger and poverty.
The project was not restricted to focusing on the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Two, which says; “End hunger, achieve food security, improve nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture,” because without focusing on the rest of the SDGs, zero hunger could be achieved, she noted.
Madam Dassah said one of the key components of The Hunger Project’s strategy was the “Vision, Commitment and Action (VCA) methodology,” which she defined as a process to facilitate a shift in mindset for people to take their destiny into their own hands.
Dr Augustine Ankuvie, the Okere District Health Director, commended the Project for including a Community Health-Based Planning Services (CHPS) compound in the Epicenter and providing a nurses’ quarters and midwifery assistant training programme.
The day was climaxed with the distribution of sanitary pads to female students from the Akode D/A Basic school.
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