Plan India Young Health Programme

Young Health Programme (YHP) is one of the few initiatives that focus on the burgeoning problem of early deaths due to chronic ailments such as cardiovascular diseases, cancers, respiratory diseases and diabetes. Besides NCDs, YHP also works to raise awareness about adolescent health issues, such as sexual and reproductive health and rights. YHP sensitises youth through sessions at schools and youth-led Health Information Centres (HICs). YHP is one of the first projects to have commissioned community scorecard exercises to rate government health facilities and establish monthly inter-generational dialogues. HICs are a critical element in grooming young people for taking the lead in spreading knowledge and awareness within their communities A recent win for YHP has been extending their interventions at schools for 226 teachers and 4,500 students. A successful signature campaign led by children lobbied with the municipal bodies for the development of an open gym in a community park. The YHP team sensitised 288 AWWs, ASHAs, and Auxiliary Nurse Midwives (ANMs) on how to limit risk behaviours among youth and promote adolescent-friendly health services at primary health centres.