The Executive Director of Girls to Women Foundation (G2WF), Hajia Mariam Iddrisu, has called on government to consider waving the luxury tax on sanitary products so as to make them affordable for girls and young women to buy during their menstrual period.
She made these comments during the World Menstrual Hygiene Day celebration at Kasulyili, a suburb of Tolon District in Northern Ghana.
The Girls to Women Foundation donated sanitary pads to girls in Basic and Secondary Schools in the area.
The Foundation had sourced support from individuals and other benevolent organisations through social media in the run-up to the commemoration of this special day on 28th May 2022.
As part of this year’s celebration, the G2WF also sought the support of technical personnel from the Ghana Health Service who delivered participatory lectures on menstrual health and hygiene as well as rendered consultation services to the student girls on the day.
Staff from the Kasulyili SHS also played a key role in addressing the students and the general public on the occasion.
The Executive Director of G2WF said, “the current cost of sanitary pads sometimes compel girls to share the same reusable pads with their mothers and sisters; an unavoidable practice that leads to the spread of STDs/STIs among our young women”.
Hajia Mariam called on the government and stakeholders to support policies that will subsidize the cost of sanitary pads for young women to easily afford or access.
She added a mandatory action must be taken to include changing rooms as part of ancillary facilities of every design for school building infrastructure in the country.
Saying, the absence of this important facility in the school infrastructure makes things very difficult for student girls when the need arises for them to tidy up during their menstrual period while school is in session.
Hajia Mariam Iddrisu also encouraged the media to help in disseminating information on menstrual hygiene or care not only on special days like 28th May of every year but as often as possible since the menstrual period is an unavoidable natural phenomenon in women.
Menstrual Hygiene Day is an annual awareness day on May 28th to highlight the importance of good menstrual hygiene and to raise awareness of the emotional, physical, social, and psychological problems and challenges facing women during their menstrual period at a global level.
It was initiated by the German-based NGO WASH United in 2013 and observed for the first time in 2014.
