Bisma Bimbingan Swadaya Masyarakat
Improving Adolescent Girls' Menstrual Health and School Attendance Through Community-Based Health Education and Peer Support in Pakistan
By Fatima Noor Khan, Ayesha Bibi, Shazia Parveen Gul and 1 others.
Abstract
Background
Girls in government schools in Peshawar often start menstruation with little accurate information, limited privacy at school, and strong pressure to stay at home on heavy or painful days. Broken locks, water shortages, and the absence of disposal bins make school toilets hard to use, so absence becomes a routine response rather than an exception.
Objective
This programme aimed to improve menstrual health knowledge, hygiene practice, and school attendance among adolescent girls through community-based health education and peer support.
Methods
A community-based participatory research programme ran from October 2025 to March 2026 in six government girls schools in Peshawar district, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, with 240 girls aged 11 to 16 years, 84 mothers, and 30 female teachers as partners. Girls, mothers, and teachers acted as co-researchers, led six education sessions and peer support circles, and pressed for facility repairs. Data came from pre-programme and post-programme questionnaires, school registers on menstruation days, facility audits, and focus group discussions.