Background: The experience of menarche is often horrifying for adolescent girls due to their lack of information on menstruation cycle and menstrual vaginal bleeding. The aim of this study was to assess the knowledge and practice about menstruation and menstruation hygiene among secondary school girls in Herat, Afghanistan.Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 10th March 2021 to 15th April 2021 among secondary schools’ girls in Herat, Afghanistan to evaluate the secondary school girls’ knowledge on menstruation and menstruation hygiene. Sample size was calculated as 768 girls. Data were evaluated in IBM SPSS program.Results: In this study 53.3% of girls a good knowledge on menstruation and menstruation hygiene. Only 15.9% of girls who did not experienced menarche at the time of this study, has a good knowledge score on menstruation and menstruation hygiene. 32.9% of the participants took rest and may missed their school during menstrual bleeding. Only 2.1% of the participants’ first source of information on menstruation and menstruation hygiene was their teachers. The findings of the study show significant association between the fathers’ educational level and girls’ knowledge of menstruation and menstruation hygiene.Conclusion: Girls knowledge on menstruations and menstruation hygiene was found to be lower than other countries. Awareness campaigns regarding the menstruation and menstruation hygiene are recommended to be conducted. However, it would be better to add a subject for secondary school girls so they can learn more and openly on this matter.

Background: The experience of menarche is often confusing and causes ambivalence among adolescent girls due to their lack of information on the menstruation cycle and menstrual vaginal bleeding. This study aimed to assess the knowledge and practice of menstruation and menstruation hygiene in Afghanistan. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study using a survey questionnaire administered from 10 March 2021 to 15 April 2021 among secondary school girls in Herat, Afghanistan.  It evaluated their knowledge of menstruation and menstrual hygiene practices.  768 girls responded to the survey.  Data was encoded and statistically analysed using SPSS. Results: 53.3% of girls surveyed had a good knowledge of menstruation and menstrual hygiene.  15.9% of girls surveyed who did not experience menarche showed a good knowledge score. In terms of practice, 32.9% took a rest and missed school during menstrual bleeding.  2.1% of the participants mentioned that teachers were the first source of information on menstruation and menstrual hygiene. Conclusion: Knowledge of menstruation and menstrual hygiene among girls surveyed was lower than in other countries. Awareness campaigns regarding menstruation and menstrual hygiene are recommended.  It is suggested to add a subject on these for secondary school girls to learn more and encourage them to openly discuss among themselves.

Background: Abortion as the termination of pregnancy prior to 20 weeks of gestation or a fetus born weighing less than 500g. The purpose of this study is to assess the knowledge and attitude of women on abortion in Herat city of Afghanistan. This cross-sectional study also serves to fill up the gap of the scarcity of data on abortion. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted among women aged over 18 years old from over the 15 districts of Herat city of Afghanistan during 25th March 2021 to 1st June 2021. A total of 419 women participated in this study. Results: 30.3% of them were aged between 18-24 years old. 24.1% of the participants aged between 25-34 years old. 78.8% of the participants were married and 35.8% of the participants were Pashtuns. 41.5% of them heard about safe abortion methods. Only 23.4% of the participants had a good knowledge score on abortion. Good knowledge on abortion among participants were significantly associated with their ethnicity, educational level, father’s knowledge level, mother’s knowledge level, and economic status. Conclusion: A comprehensive campaign on safe abortion covering all the ethical, religious, constitutional, and scientific domains should be considered by the ministry of Public Health. It is recommended that the ministry of education of Afghanistan consider organizing trainings on safe abortion for high school male and female students.

Background: COVID-19 affected not only people’s physical health but also their mental health too. The purpose of this study was to measure the level of depression, anxiety, and stress among COVID-19 patients before, during, and after being infected by the virus, living in Herat city of Afghanistan. Methods: This descriptive study was conducted among COVID-19 patients between April 22th 2020 and August 20th, 2020 living in Herat Province of Afghanistan. Our sample size was 100. To measure the level of depression, anxiety, and stress, among the COVID-19 patients, the developed version of the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale 42 (DASS-42) standard questionnaire was used. Results: About 67% of participants were male and 14% of them were illiterate. Of all the participants in this study 12% of them used to smoke and 30% of them had a chronic disease accompanied. The result of this study shows that at the Start stage, 52.0% of the participants had a level of depression from mild to extremely severe. In the After stage only 10.0% of the participants had a level of depression from mild to severe. At the Start stage, 82.0% of the participants had a level of anxiety. At the End stage, 29.0% of the participants suffered a level of stress from mild to extremely severe. Conclusion: Generally, the COVID-19 patients’ mental health was affected negatively due to the disease. After passing the COVID-19 disease and knowing the facts about the disease, the anxiety, stress, and depression level of patients caused by the disease were decreased.

Background: According to the World Health Organization abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy prior to 20 weeks of gestation or a fetus born weighing less than 500g. The purpose of this study is to assess the knowledge and attitude of women on abortion in Herat city of Afghanistan. This cross-sectional study also serves to fill up the gap of the scarcity of data on abortion in Afghanistan. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted among women aged over 18 years old from over the 15 districts of Herat city of Afghanistan during 25 th March 2021 to 1 st June 2021. A total of 419 women participated in this study. Results: Total 30.3% of our participants were aged between 18-24 years old and 24.1% of the participants aged between 25-34 years old. Our 78.8% of the participants were married and 35.8% of the participants were Pashtuns by religion. Among 41.5% of them heard about safe abortion methods. Our 56.6% of the participants had a good knowledge score on abortion. Total 57.5% of the participants who aged between 18-24 years old had a good level of knowledge on abortion. Of all the illiterate participants in this study, 46.7% of them had a good level of knowledge on abortion while 76.9% of participants with high school educational level had a good level of knowledge on abortion. Conclusion: A comprehensive campaign on safe abortion covering all the ethical, religious, constitutional, and scientific domains should be considered by the ministry of Public Health. It is recommended that the ministry of education of Afghanistan consider organizing trainings on safe abortion for high school male and female students.