KOZHIKODE: As many as 2,000 peer educators have been selected in Malappuram district to give health lessons to adolescents. The aim is to make the society aware of the scientific basis of health, health programmes, vaccinations and thus, form a wide network through students. The project is being implemented in seven blocks under the Rashtriya Kishor Swasthya Karyakram (RKSK) programme of the National Health Mission. “An adolescent friendly health centre has been formed in each block. A trained peer educator will take two-hour awareness classes once a week for 20 students. The class will clear the doubts of the students and further queries could be clarified at the centre concerned,” says Malappuram District Medical Officer (DMO), Dr Sakeena K.
The core idea is to instill the scientific basis of health in the public and thereby nail the many resistant forces including the anti-vaccination lobby and quacks. “The peer educator would function equivalent to that of the student police cadet (SPC) in school. If there is an issue of substance abuse among students, the peer educator can successfully intervene,” pointed out Deputy DMO Dr A. Shibulal.
Malappuram has strong vaccination resistant pockets and it surfaced after the two deaths of diphtheria-afflicted students who were not vaccinated last year. The seven blocks are Nilambur, Vandoor, Pookottoor, Vengara, Neduva, Vettam and Valavannur. The RKSK project was piloted in Palakkad and Wayanad last year.
