By James Esuon
Agona Kenyakor (C/R), Oct 30, GNA- Nana Kweku Kumi I, the Sanaahemaa of Agona Duakwa, has advocated for sanitary pads to be made tax-free.
This, he said, would reduce the struggles many schoolgirls go through before purchasing the products.
As a woman, she believed sanitary pads should not be considered as a luxury as the tax law had rendered it, but rather as inevitable products essentially being used by womanhood.
Nana Kumi was addressing school children, chiefs, teachers and queen mothers at a breast cancer and menstrual awareness campaign at Kenyakor in the Agona East District of the Central Region.
She said it was not a taboo for a woman created by God to have her menstrual period as it was a natural phenomenon which must not become blasphemous to the parents of the girl-child.
According to the Sanaahemaa, due to menstruation, some schoolgirls had fallen into the hands of some wicked men or boys who sexually molest them with promises of buying them pads.
The Sanaahemaa noted that majority of the girls in Junior High School (JHS) could not afford to buy pads due to the high cost of the product as a result of high taxes charged by the government.
She therefore made an appeal to the government to heed to the calls by the numerous advocacy groups and remove the tax on sanitary pad.
On breast cancer awareness, she said the month of October every year was celebrated to create awareness to draw the attention women to the disease and go for regular checks on their breasts to avoid any calamity.
She said some 2.3 million women worldwide were diagnosed with the breast cancer disease annually with only a few of them surviving due to complications.
Rev Victor K. Koblah, Chief Executive Officer of Compassion Outreach Organisation, a Ho based non-government organisation in the Volta Region added his voice to the appeal to the government to remove the taxes on sanitary pads.
He called on girls not to engage in premarital sex to avoid teenage pregnancy and rather focus on their studies to enable them to become successful adults in future.
Rev Koblah commended the Sanaahene of Duakwa for her efforts to champion the course of schoolgirls to help stem the difficulties some of them went through to get pads during their menses.
He assured that the NGO would continue to support the Sanaahene with sanitary pads and other materials to enable her reach out to many schoolgirls as much as she could, in the Agona East District.
Mrs Irene Mensah, a public health nurse, urged women to check their breasts frequently at health facilities for early detection of breast cancer for early treatment.
She urged women to try as much as possible to avoid risk factors such as excessive drinking, unsubscribed usage medicines and many others that put them at high risk of getting breast cancer.
The public health nurse emphasised that currently, no cure had been found for breast cancer, but the disease could be managed by medical doctors when reported earlier.
The Sanaahemaa distributed sanitary pads to more than 200 girls who were at the programme as part of the efforts to support them to alleviate their sufferings.
Nana Kweku Prah V, Nifahene of Duakwa who chaired the function, praised the Sanaahemaa for her tireless efforts to champion the good course of girl-child education at Duakwa and other towns to give them hope.
He assured that the Duakwahene, Nana Kojo Amoakwa V and his entire chiefs would also rally support for Sanaahemaato get more aid to assist in the education and development of the girl-child in the district.
GNA