Utilisation of Adolescent Health Services Under RMNCH+A in an Urban Slum of Berhampur, Odisha, India

Introduction: Adolescents constitute 22.3% percent of the global population. Many challenges are faced by the adolescent girls for which adolescent health services under National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) are being provided to them. Reproductive, Maternal, Neonatal, Child and Adolescent Health (RMNCH+A) approach launched in 2013 was an attempt to address the major causes of mortality among women and children. The RMNCH+A approach has been developed strategically to provide an understanding of ‘continuum of care’ across various life stages. Aim: To study the knowledge and extent of utilisation of services under RMNCH+A programme among adolescent girls of Berhampur, Odisha. Materials and Methods: This field based cross-sectional study was carried out in the Anganwadi centres (AWCs) of urban slums of Berhampur under Urban Health Training Centre (UHTC) of the institution from April 2015 to October 2016. All the unmarried adolescent girls and Anganwadi Workers (AWWs) were the study subjects. Data was collected from the girls using pre-tested, Self designed, semi-structured questionnaire and by in-depth interview from seven AWWs. Results: A total of 142 Hindu adolescent girls were interviewed. Majority belonged to nuclear families and upper lower socio economic class. Most of them had completed their education upto high school level but 2 (1.4%) had never gone to school. All of them had knowledge about distribution of Iron and Folic Acid tablets (IFA) and 110 (77.4%) were aware about deworming tablets. The media played important role in making girls aware about Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH). They were not given any preventive health checkups. There were, 30 (21.1%) girls suffering from Reproductive Tract Infections (RTI). But none of them went to the AWWs for consultation. Sanitary napkins were exclusively used by 31 (43.7%) girls. Menstrual hygiene was adequate among 49 (69%) girls. The AWWs had knowledge about services to be provided under RMNCH+A but no health education to the beneficiaries was imparted by them. Conclusion: All the beneficiaries and AWWs were aware about some services available under RMNCH+A. Inspite of the adequate supply, one third of girls were not consuming IFA. None of the AWWs provided any health education to the ir beneficiaries.