Viewpoint: The Cost of Sanitary Pads Should Be a Public Health Emergency

Monday, August 15, 2016

This week fact-checking ninjas, Africa Check revealed that it’s not actually seven million girls who miss school every month because of the inaccessibility of feminine hygiene products. And while the actual number of girls who miss school because the price of pads and tampons is fewer than 7 million, the price of pads and tampons should still be treated as a public health emergency.

As we’ve said before here, if you happen to own a uterus or have ever been shopping for someone who does, then you’ve no doubt noticed how ridiculously expensive pads and tampons actually are.

Activist and writer Mbali Matandela argues that the Department of Health should be prioritising sanitary health of girls as much as it is the supplying of condoms.

“If girls don’t have access to sanitary pads, their general health is affected and so is the quality of education they get because they often have to be absent from school,” said Matandela.

She added that some girls have to use newspapers and cloths as a substitute for pads or tampons, which denies them their dignity and affects the relationship they have with themselves and their bodies.

Source: The Daily Vox (link opens in a new window)

Tags
public health, reproductive health