Desaraju Shyama, Panda Nishisipa, Panigrahy Rudra Prasad, Panda Bhuputra
PHFI-Indian Institute of Public Health, Bhubaneswar, India.
KIIT School of Public Health, KIIT Deemed to be University, Bhubaneswar, India.
Health Res Policy Syst. 2025 Jul 16;23(1):94. doi: 10.1186/s12961-025-01316-w.
Recognizing the importance of menstrual health and hygiene, governments worldwide, including India, are working towards improving awareness, infrastructure and access to essential products and services. Odisha's state-led "Khushi" programme, launched in 2018, is one such initiative providing free sanitary napkins to schoolgirls in government and government-aided schools to improve menstrual hygiene and reduce dropouts. Our study aims to explore the perspectives and barriers in the implementation of the Khushi programme in Odisha.
This paper emanates from a larger study on menstrual health in Odisha, conducted from September 2021 to December 2022, focussing on qualitative insights into the implementation challenges of the Khushi programme. It examines stakeholder perspectives through in-depth interviews with key officials from health and education departments and focus group discussions with schoolgirls. In addition, relevant programme documents and government policies were reviewed.
Our study findings related to the systemic bottlenecks in the implementation of the Khushi programme have been summarized under key thematic domains: (1) approach to micro-planning; (2) interdepartmental convergence; (3) indenting and supply chain; (4) capacity building; and (5) monitoring and supervision. This study underscores the importance of designing and implementing a comprehensive behaviour-change strategy that should capitalize on the existing collaboration between the health and education departments, while addressing identified weaknesses.
The Khushi programme has the potential to bring about a paradigm shift in menstrual health behaviour among schoolgirls. To maximize its impact, the government may adopt a comprehensive strategy, including strengthening menstrual-hygiene-compliant school infrastructure, providing education and sensitization for both implementers and beneficiaries, and integrating environment-friendly menstrual hygiene products in the programme.
认识到月经健康与卫生的重要性，包括印度在内的世界各国政府都在努力提高认识、改善基础设施，并增加获得基本产品和服务的机会。奥里萨邦政府于2018年发起的“Khushi”计划就是这样一项举措，该计划为政府和政府资助学校的女学生提供免费卫生巾，以改善经期卫生并减少辍学。我们的研究旨在探讨奥里萨邦实施Khushi计划的观点和障碍。
本文源自2021年9月至2022年12月在奥里萨邦进行的一项关于月经健康的大型研究，重点是对Khushi计划实施挑战的定性见解。它通过对卫生和教育部门的主要官员进行深入访谈以及与女学生进行焦点小组讨论来考察利益相关者的观点。此外，还审查了相关的计划文件和政府政策。
我们关于Khushi计划实施中的系统性瓶颈的研究结果已归纳在关键主题领域下：（1）微观规划方法；（2）部门间协调；（3）申购与供应链；（4）能力建设；以及（5）监测与监督。本研究强调了设计和实施全面行为改变策略的重要性，该策略应利用卫生和教育部门之间现有的合作，同时解决已发现的薄弱环节。
Khushi计划有可能在女学生的月经健康行为方面带来范式转变。为了使其影响最大化，政府可采取全面战略，包括加强符合经期卫生要求的学校基础设施建设，为实施者和受益者提供教育并提高认识，以及将环保型经期卫生产品纳入该计划。
