BAJURA: Fifteen-year-old Manisha BK (name changed) had been suffering from a reproductive disease for three years. She had only told her mother about what she had been facing as she was ashamed of her condition.

For the first time, she disclosed her problem during a teenage sexual and reproductive health camp organised at Tante Health Post in her village.

Doctors working at the health camp treated her and provided medical consultation. Likewise, 17-year-old Laxmi Nepali (name changed) said she was at ease to tell all her problems to the doctor as check-up was carried out with discretion. After consulting with the doctor, she also expressed her confidence about being cured of the disease she was suffering from for a long time.

Likewise, many other teenage girls like BK and Nepali received treatment at the extensive health camp organised in the district for the first time. The health camp was organised at two separate places in Bajura district by ADRA Nepal — an organisation engaged in developing health and nutrition programmes — with the financial aid from UKAID and UNFPA in coordination with Bajura Health Office.

ADRA Nepal's Bajura district coordinator Ratna Kayastha said, the camp with the help of specialist doctors treated 1,095 teenagers for their sexual and reproductive health. He said more than 2,400 teenagers were provided with friendly information and communication articles.

The sexual and reproductive health camp was organised for two days at Kolti Primary Health Centre targeting people in the northern region and at Tante Health Centre targeting five local levels in the southern region of the district, Chief at Bajura Health Centre Lal Bahadur Khadka said.

Two teams led by gynaecologists — Dr Ishwor Prasad Upadhyaya and Dr Priyanka Shrestha — carried out the health check-up and treatment.

According to the organiser, the health camp provided information articles to 734 teenagers, group consultation to 634 teenagers, social-psychological consultation to 78, special consultation to 35 and Out Patient Department (OPD) services to 450, family planning service to 23 and medicines to 346 others.

Dr Upadhyaya said most of the teenagers were shy and hesitant to express their health problems and added that they were found repressing their conditions.