The proposed project aims to create awareness and initiate Behavior Change around personal sanitation and hygiene among 6000 students and 60 teachers of 60 rural schools in Gujarat. Making them Change agents who will positively influence rest of the population will lead to desired change in the community health profile. Sustainable strategies will be formed to monitor sanitary practices.
Lack of personal sanitation, hygiene and related behaviour, esp. among small children accounts for nearly 80% of diseases making them a major risk group. A UNICEF study and our experience concurs that better sanitation and hygiene habits will lead to 35% decrease in diseases. Lack of adhering to elementary hygiene and sanitary practices like soap-washing hands after defecation/ before meals, regular bathing , and nail-maintenance are barriers to the desired change in the community health profile
The proposed project aims to tackle the problem by initiating a health promotion programme through Behavior Change Communication in 60 schools. The strategy will be to create awareness about healthy living among students and teachers, making them Change agents who will in turn positively influence rest of the population. Initiatives will include working through School Sanitation Committees, their capacity building and organizing various awareness events.
1. 60 School sanitation committees would have been formed to monitor sanitary practices of children 2. A noticeable change in sanitary habits of the children would have occurred and related illnesses would have decreased 3. Children would be habituated in soap-washing their hands, after defecation and before/after meals 4. Sanitation facilities would be increasingly utilized for defecation 5. Sanitation habits will have a multiplier effect in change in sanitary habits of family members.
This project has provided additional documentation in a PDF file (projdoc.pdf).
