The National Health Mission (NHM) officials have lauded the work done by the KIMS team to create awareness on male participation in family planning through popularising an awareness video, in a very pertinent yet often ignored area of the society.
KIMS-ICMR team is working in Koraput district for over a year on the project “An intervention study to increase male participation in family planning programme in two districts of Odisha: Boudh and Koraput’’ under principal investigator Prof. Dr. Sonali Kar, Dept of Community Medicine, Kalinga Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS).
The State Reproductive Maternal Neonatal Child Health + Adolescent (RMNCH+A) consultant Saroj Panigrahi and Dr. Nirodh Kumar Sahu, Joint Director (Technical) from National Health Mission (NHM), Bhubaneswar visited Koraput to attend the ongoing intervention and field activities at the sampled intervention village Rabanaguda in Koraput on March 27.
The core team of KIMS Koraput consisting of consultant Suvam Swain, field supervisors Arabinda Sarangi and Sukanta Khara spearheaded the programme comprising of screening of the community video consisting of a drama in local language regarding sensitisation of contraceptive practices and basic contraception methods available to the eligible couples followed by clinical check-up.
The drama was enacted by KIMS MBBS and PG students from Dept of Community Medicine and shot at KIDS auditorium and Urban Health Training Centre, Niladri Vihar. The team tided with lots of incumbents, both environmental and social but has now been successful in drawing commendable attention of the community towards male participation in family planning.
The intervention is planned for three to four quarters and a comparison will be drawn between the control and intervention villages regarding the acceptance of modern methods of family planning especially with the mutual consent of the male partner.
The project is being run in Boudh District also and regular community congregations and awareness are being planned in a systematic manner under the project. The team expressed hearty gratitude to NHM Director Shalini Pandit and Director Health and Family Welfare Dr Bijay Panigrahi for encouraging the team and handholding during all the initiatives. The project team is also grateful to Brig. Prof. AP Mohanty, Principal, KIMS and Prof. Dr. BK Behera, HoD Community Medicine, KIMS for offering unconditional encouragement for the project work. Above all, it also thanked KIIT-KISS Founder Dr. Achyuta Samanta for his blessings and inspiration that motivates all team members.