GNAD TRAINS DEAF ADOLESCENT GIRLS ON MENSTRUAL HYGIENE AND SEXUAL REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH IN THREE SELECTED DEAF SCHOOLS

The Ghana National Association of the Deaf (GNAD) has held a two days workshop for 15 adolescent girls each from 3 different deaf schools namely Hohoe School for the Deaf, Bechem School for the Deaf, and Savelugu School for the Deaf to train them on menstrual hygiene and sexual reproductive health.

The training held in the 3 different schools was to educate adolescent girls on the topic to act as peer educators to enable them to educate other girls since the research based on evidence shows that a higher percentage of the Deaf adolescent’s source of information concerning menstrual hygiene is their peers other than any other source such as the health professional.

The two days workshop formed part of the GNADs project dubbed “THE ROLE OF MENSTRUAL HYGIENE IN IMPROVING ADOLESCENT HEALTH”. The project sought to provide information on menstrual hygiene to young Deaf girls to become student advocates in promoting positive behavior.

It served as a platform for participants to learn from a resourced person in the field of reproductive health, and also to ask questions about menstruation, pregnancy, and hygiene. It also sought to enhance the ability of about 1000 adolescent girls to manage menstruation with dignity and also intervene and prevent adolescent girls from being victims of sexually transmitted infections, teenage pregnancy, and other health-related challenges and also encourage more Deaf girls to be in school and actively partake in academic activities.