By Muyid Deen Suleman
Nintin (Ash) June 03, GNA – A retired educationist, Nana Adu Asare, has appealed to the Government to consider providing sanitary pads and related materials to adolescent girls in schools as a social intervention programme in basic and senior high schools.
Nana Asare, said this would encourage basic and second cycle schools’ enrolment particularly, in the rural communities across the country.
According to him, the prevailing socio-economic difficulties being faced by parents of such children made it challenging to cater for sanitary pads, which were essential for them to ensure personal and environmental hygiene.
He said such intervention would also boost the self-confidence of the girls to remain in schools throughout their menstrual periods.
Nana Asare, who is also the head of the Nintin Royal Family, made the appeal at Nintin in the Asante-Mampong Municipality during a forum to commemorate this year’s ‘World Menstrual Hygiene Day.’
He described the initiative as historic and exemplary since it was the first time such an initiative had been organized in the area.
Nana Asare pointed out that inadequate information on menstruation had had various socio-economic and educational consequences on the girls’ school attendance, hygiene, and environmental sanitation over the years.
He urged teachers to develop deep understanding of the adolescent girl pupils during the monthly periods and encourage them not to shy away from men since it was a natural phenomenon.
Mr Nicholas Osei-Wusu, the assembly member for the area, who is a broadcast Journalist, together with Sunda International, dealers in sanitary materials, organised the durbar to commemorate this year’s Menstrual Hygiene Day in the community.
Some sanitary pads were distributed to the girls who were from the Roman Catholic Primary, Presby Primary and Junior High and M/A Junior High Schools at Nintin as well as their counterparts at the Hwidiem M/A Primary and JHS.
Mr Osei-Wusu, thanked Sunda International for the partnership meant to bring some relief to the girls and their parents.
He called on government to, as a social intervention, waive off entirely the tax component on sanitary pads to make it highly affordable for parents of pupils and students in the basic and senior high schools.
At the durbar at Nintin and Hwidiem, the adolescent girls were enlightened on a practical demonstration of the most appropriate way of wearing, using, and disposing off sanitary towels, how to keep personal and environmental hygiene and sanitation during the monthly flow.
The girls and the female teachers from all the schools received a package containing sanitary pads that could last them a minimum of two monthly cycles, as well as washing powder to keep them hygienic and health.
They each received a copy of a handbook on ‘Hygiene and Sanitation’ with extra copies donated to the schools as teaching and learning material.
Madam Charity Azaare, a Senior Staff Midwife at the Ghana Health Service, called for increased public education on menstruation and its hygiene and health-related issues for everybody especially parents to support their daughters during that stage.
The ‘World Menstrual Hygiene Day’ was initiated by a German NGO, WASH, in 2013 but gained global recognition the following year.
The aim is to create an enhanced public awareness and education on the reality, and importance of menstruation as a reproductive development of females starting from adolescent ages.
The day was fixed for world celebration on 28th May to emphasize that menstruation has an average of 28-day cycle.
The ‘World Menstrual Day’ has fast gained national appreciation in recent years thereby generating increased public attention, awareness, and education.
GNA