By Albert Futukpor
Tamale, May 29, GNA-Songtaba, a non-government organisation, has donated 30 boxes (720 packets) of sanitary pads to students at Tamale Girls Senior High School (SHS) to support them in observing good menstrual hygiene.
They also donated 10 sanitary hygiene bins to the school for the safe disposal of used sanitary pads and to ensure a clean environment.
The gesture, which was to mark this year’s Global Menstrual Hygiene Day, was in line with Songtaba’s Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights intervention.
Mr Mohammed Amidu Alhassan, Gender Equality, Social Inclusion and Institutional Development Manager of Songtaba, who presented the sanitary pads to the girls of the school in Tamale, said it was to ensure that menstrual hygiene was integral in every woman’s life.
The ceremony was also used to educate the girls on menstruation and its implications, and menstrual hygiene where they asked questions to clear their doubts and misconceptions on the topics.
The Global Menstrual Hygiene Day is marked on May 28, every year, to highlight the importance of good menstrual hygiene management, and raise awareness about the issues faced by those, who do not have access to sanitary products.
It is generally known that many girls would want to avoid embarrassment, and so they miss classes for some days every month because they cannot afford sanitary pads to protect their flow during their menstrual periods.
Others, who cannot afford sanitary pads, also resort to unhygienic methods to secure themselves during their menstrual periods, a situation, which sometimes leads to infections.
Mr Alhassan said girls’ ability to manage their menstruation well improved their confidence in society and helped to reduce diseases hence the gesture.
He said the taxes imposed on sanitary pads had made them expensive in the country, urging the government to withdraw the taxes to make sanitary pads affordable to all.
Hajia Mariama Abu Hassan, Assistant Headmistress, Domestic, at Tamale Girls SHS expressed gratitude to Songtaba for the gesture and said the items had come at the right time for the benefit of the students.
GNA