Importance of Contextualized Communication for Better Disaster Preparedness and Disaster Risk Reduction: A Case Study from Bihar

India, the disaster preparedness has primarily been restricted to being response oriented that is mainlyconcentrated on the rescue operations. Insufficient community preparedness and lack of propercommunication leads to large scale causalities. The lack of proper communication is due to the fact thatthe relevant information among the community participants is not spread properly. One of the majorreasons for this is: the difference in the language of communication among the people and the language inwhich the information is officially shared. Due to this language gap it becomes very difficult for thenative people to understand the guidelines related to the disaster risks and disaster preparedness, therebymaking them more vulnerable to disaster risks. Five districts from Bihar have been identified for datacollection. The districts feature prominently from North to South on the map showing Multi HazardZones in Bihar issued by Bihar State Disaster Management Authority. Quantitative data analysis clearlyreflects that firstly, the official languages (English and Hindi) used by the government agencies forknowledge transfer are totally inadequate and secondly, translating the information in regional languageslike Magahi, Bhojpuri and Maithili considerably enhance the quality and the quantity of responses thatare generated during data collection. Community involvement can be promoted and made efficient onlywhen the regional languages are used as the desired media of communication.

Tobacco use among school going children in Bihar, India

Tobacco use has become prevalent in India and nearly 15% of youth use tobacco in one or other form. However, very few studies have explored the use, knowledge about its hazard, and attitudes of tobacco use among youths. So, this study was done to determine the pattern of use as well as knowledge and perception of tobacco among students attending schools of 8th to 9th grad in Sasaram, Bihar. Methods: A cross sectional survey was performed among 515 students in the 8th and 9th grades in 8 schools in Sasaram, Bihar. The study period was from 1st January to 31st December, 2018. Results: Ever use of smokeless tobacco was reported by 31 (6.1%) students in the survey. 18 (3.5%) students reported ever using smoked tobacco. Students were more likely to identify cigarettes and bidis as tobacco products compared to smokeless tobacco products like gutkha and khaini. Betel nut products were used by 91 (17.7%) students. Conclusion: The high rate of smokeless tobacco and betel nut use along with less levels of knowledge about their contents and harms suggests that tobacco control programs of Government of India targeting youth should ensure that these products are adequately explained and understood by students all over India.

Perspectives on adolescent girls’ health-seeking behaviour in relation to reproductive health in Rohats, Bihar, India

Adolescents girls face major problems related to menstrual abnormalities which lead to morbidity that may have an adverse effect on their school attendance. The objective of this study was to collect and analyse data on prevalence of menstrual patterns and menstrual disorders among adolescent girls attending Adolescent Reproductive Sexual Health clinic in a tertiary care teaching hospital in Rohtas, Bihar and assessing their treatment seeking behaviour. Methods: We conducted a cross sectional study o 140 girls in the age group of 10-19 years in a study period of one year. Demographic information and characteristics of menstrual bleeding were noted. Results: The study sample consisted of 140 girls with mean age 14.9± 2.5 years. Most of the girls were in the age group 12-14 years (37.8%). 79.3% girls had attained menarche at a mean age of 12.5 ± 1.3 years. The most common menstrual disorder was painful menstruation seen in 66.7% girls. The mean number of bleeding days was observed to be 5±1.7 days. The most common associated symptom reported by girls was backache. As per treatment seeking behaviour of adolescent girls, only 25.5% girls with history of heavy menstrual bleeding, 27% with painful menses and 34.8% with irregular cycles took medical advice by a doctor. Oligomenorrhoea was observed in 11.7% girls. Conclusion: In spite of high prevalence of menstrual disorder, only a few adolescent girls seek expert medical advice. There is a need to create awareness among girls about seeking medical advice for menstrual problems.