Stakeholders in menstrual health and hygiene have urged government to invest more in reusable instead of disposable sanitary products as a way to settle the surging challenges surrounding menstrual health among females.
Under the leadership of Together Alive Health Initiative(TAHI), African Youth and Development Link, and US For Girls, these organizations raised a patent issue of the high prices of sanitary towels which some girls can not afford and end up improvising with things like soil as seen in a recently shocking story on NTV of a girl in Busoga who uses Soil to manage menstraul periods.
While addressing journalists at TAHI offices in Kulambiro, Charles Tumwebaze, said the government should partner with manufacturers of sanitary towels and pay them a particular amount as away of subsidising the prices.
“There should be what we call a private public partnership where the government can partner with the private sector the manufacturers and pay them, so when they pay them a particular amount, it somehow subsidises the prices. There should be a private public partnership in that regard but of course the prices are high and some girls may not be able to afford them.” He said.
Shamirah Nakalema, the Executive Director of WoMena said that they want to see the government investing in reusable menstrual management methods.
“The government should make sure that they invest in companies that have safe menstrual management products that are reusable and then these companies can be in position to distribute these reusable menstrual management methods to the schools and then to the communities.” She said.
Nakalema revealed that the use of reusable pads and menstrual cups helps in saving money and stress as they last longer than these disposable menstrual products.
“We have the reusable pad and the menstrual cup, the reusable pad can go up to three years depending on the manufacturer and then the menstrual cup can go up to 10 years when you’re using one product. So imagine if a girl has a menstrual cup that goes up to 10 years and she’s in primary it means that she can go throughout second grade even university when she’s using one product as it saves alot in regards to money and stress.
Lorna Nagawa from the Women Probono initiative, an NGO that uses the law to advocate for right so women and girls, put the issue of high prices of sanitary pads on high taxes. She advised stakeholders to petition parliament to reduce the prices of pads in the next value Added Tax amendment Act.
“The Value Added Tax Act is amended every year. Last year it was amended and the price of diapers was increased, so how about as CSOs and stakeholders in menstrual health and hygiene, we petition parliament in the next amendment to reduce the tax of the pads. It may not be a tax exemptions as said but we petition for a reduction in these taxes because the causes of the prices being high are the taxes, so once the taxes are carved, then maybe we could have fairer prices.” Nagawa said.
Hope Nankunda, the Raising Teenagers Uganda, said there should be a formulation of a comprehensive national policy on Menstrual health and hygiene.”This policy should adequately address the diverse needs of both in-school and out-of-school girls.” She said.
Nankunda added that despite the ministry of education’s significant progress in producting multiple documents such as the MHH strategic plan 2021-2025 and MHH readers manuals for primary and secondary school, the money allocated for this is insufficient considering the nature of menstrual health for girls in schools.
“Presently, schools are expected to utilise the capitation grant of UGX 14,000 per pupil per annum to address MHH issues, including purchasing emergency pads. It is important to note that the capitation grant is also meant to purchase other items for the school like textbooks, chalk, school maintenance, and payment of utilities including water and electricity, among other items. This allocation is insufficient considering the critical nature of menstrual health and hygiene for girls in schools.” She said.
According to a 2020 study by the ministry of education and sports, many women and girls in Uganda undergo challenges to access menstrual products and managing their Periods. The study reveals that that out of 152 girls interviewed, 43 of them reported having emergency pads at school while 109(71%) of the girls had none in their schools.
The same study established that the increase in school absenteeism among girls is partly attributed to starting their periods. More than half of the girls enroll in primary one drop out before sitting their PLE Mainly because of menstrual challenge such as inability to afford sanitary products such as pads. 77% of girls miss 2-3 days of school due to menstrual.
