Menstruation is a natural biological process experienced by all adolescent girls and women every month, generally starting between 11- and 14 years age and continuing till menopause at about age 51. On any day, more than 800 million women and girls between the age of 11 and 49 are menstruating, yet it is the most neglected health issue, resulting in adverse health outcomes. The ability to manage menstrual hygiene is fundamental to the well-being of women, and it constitutes the essential component of basic hygiene, sanitation and reproductive health services. However, poor awareness of hygiene practices, unscientific attitudes, myths and misconceptions adversely affect women's menstrual health and social lives. The taboo surrounding this issue also prevents girls and women to articulate their needs and problems regarding menstrual health management.
Lack of awareness around menstruation is an unfortunate reality. Only 48% women are aware of periods before they start menstruating. Only 55% think it is normal. Women's experiences are described mostly in negative terms - fear, disgust, restrictions, taboos, shame, and secrecy. 70% of mothers think that menstrual blood is impure. Due to this culture of silence, there are many myths and misconceptions about menstruation.
The lack of adequate facilities for menstrual hygiene management prevents girls from continuing their education and is one of the major reasons for the rise in the dropout rate at the high school level. Eighty eight percent of girls and women use unsafe, unhygienic menstrual absorbents.
Equipping adolescent girls with adequate information on menstrual hygiene and its management helps in enhancing self-esteem and positively impacts their performance. Not just through providing pads, we need to spread awareness and break the silence around menstruation. There is a dire need for private space for changing, water for washing and safe disposal facilities. Most of all, the taboos should not be an imposition on girls/women.
The Society for Action in Community Health (SACH) aims to eliminate the use of sanitary napkins while dealing with the issue of menstruation. Each of the sanitary napkins uses plastic to make four bags. This does a lot of harm to the environment. In this context, SACH has taken up projects to enhance knowledge on safe menstruation and provides menstrual cup in government schools. Menstrual cups have a life span of six to eight years. They are made of silicon. Therefore, there will be no harm to the environment.
As a part of this initiative, menstrual cups were distributed to 270 students of Vaikom Government Higher Secondary School in Kottayam district of Kerala. The mission was funded by South Africa-based corporate Paymentology. SACH aims to spread awareness and knowledge to many other government schools in Kerala and India in the coming days. It sincerely thanks Paymentology for helping us with a humble beginning.
