The call for the government to remove taxes on menstrual pads rages on as Ningo adolescent girls have been introduced to cheaper, indigenous ways of making safe, reusable menstrual pads for their comfort.
Adolescent girls from poor homes continue to face challenges regarding affordability and access to sanitary pads. This is due to the high cost of sanitary pads. The imposition of high taxes on the commodity described as a luxury commodity is also contributing to the high prices.
At Ningo in the Greater Accra region, teenage girls due for menstruation are periodically absent from school.
This prompted the Ghana Girls Guide and a group of students from some selected schools in Accra to intervene.
Ghana Girl Guide Association National Training Coordinator Stephanie Naa-Dei Ayariga emphasized the need for healthy handling of reusable pads.
“We have communicated to these girls how to properly use the reusable sanitary pads, washing them with soap and water, drying them in the sun to make sure it is well dried so that you can use them. The hygienic aspect of the reusable sanitary pad is as important as educating the girls who to make their own pads.
The girls were also educated on reproductive health and the need to shun teenage pregnancy.
“What do you think luxury means to you when this is a health issue, this is something that is persistent in the community, something that is part of you. It is not that you have the choice to have your period, we need to make sure that it is affordable to them, we need to make sure that they have access to these things, they are not luxury goods, they are necessities.”
Seventy adolescent girls were trained to make reusable menstrual pads with locally sourced materials.
“One of the major outcomes is that each of the girls has a reusable pad to take home they know how to use it, how to take care of it and so they have a product that can last in a very long term and so by doing this we can show people that there are alternatives and that we don’t have to wait for the government to be able to know whether or not they can have access to the basic materials that we all need because our menstrual cycles will not wait for us .”