Rawalpindi-UNS: The participants of a workshop organized by PODA in collaboration with the office of the District Population Welfare Rawalpindi on sexual and reproductive health rights identified anemia as a major challenge affecting women of all ages and emphasized the need for immediate steps to ensure adequate folic acid intake.
PODA collaborated with the office of the District Population Welfare, Rawalpindi to hold the workshop for the staff and Lady Health Workers attached with the Basic Health Unit of Kotha Kalan, Rawalpindi on SRHR. Among the 25 women participants, around 50% were found to have hemoglobin levels below the World Health Organization’s recommended level. Incharge Family Health Clinic, Benazir Bhutto Hospital, Dr. Asima Tariq, shared insights on the importance of nutrition, awareness, and preventive measures to address anemia.
The participants recommended declaring an iron deficiency emergency to ensure effective dissemination at the grassroots level, noting that women are now more willing to respond to such campaigns due to increased awareness of the consequences.
Nabeela Aslam, Project Manager emphasized the need to address urinary tract infections by focusing on crucial issues of cleanliness and hygiene during periods. She stressed the importance of removing stigmas associated with menstrual health and advised maintaining hygiene by changing pads after at least six hours depending on the flow, taking frequent showers, and washing hands with soap.
Among the group of 25 women, three were survivors of child marriage. They shared the ordeals they had gone through, including deprivation of basic rights, particularly the right to education, mental abuse, and the hostile attitude of in-laws.
The workshop was part of the project “Reduce Early Marriages to Enhance Gender Equality,” which Potohar Organization for Development Advocacy (PODA) is implementing with the support of the Norwegian Embassy in Islamabad from December 2022 to November 2025 in 41 Districts of Punjab.
