Hajia Fati Seidu Tambro, Executive Director of Sung Foundation, has urged the government to scrap taxes on sanitary products to enhance menstrual health and hygiene among girls in schools. She said sanitary products were getting more expensive, making it difficult for Ghanaian women and girls, especially in rural areas to afford basic menstrual hygiene supplies. Hajia Tambro made the call during the distribution of sanitary pads to female pupils at the Nangbagu Municipal Assembly Junior High School as part of awareness creation on menstrual hygiene organised by Sung Foundation and funded by Roddenberry Foundation. The event was to mark this year’s World Menstrual Hygiene Day celebration. The day is observed on the 28th day of the fifth month of the year because menstrual cycles average 28 days in length and people menstruate an average of five days each month. The day is set aside globally to highlight the importance of menstrual care, and to raise awareness about the issues faced by those who do not have access to sanitary products. Hajia Tambro said the cost of sanitary products had more than doubled this year from GHc5 last year to GHc14 and GHc16 this year. She indicated that due to the high cost of sanitary pads, women and girls sometimes used toilet rolls or pieces of cloth during their menstrual periods. She said the situation was driving more girls out of school or to use unhygienic alternatives, which could cause infections and infertility among the girls. Amina Bawa, a Student from Nangbagu Municipal Assembly Junior High School shared her experience with the Ghana News Agency and said she mostly absented herself from school during her menstrual periods because she stained her uniform once and some of her class boys teased her, which had affected her psychologically and impacted her learning negatively. Mr Halid Iddris, Headmaster of Nangbagu Municipal Assembly Junior High School who received the items on behalf of the school, said some of the female students missed about a week of school hours each month because their parents could not afford pads for them.
Source: Ghana News Agency