IRINGA: Iringa region government in collaboration other stakeholders aims at empowering girls to fulfill their dreams in their lives by coping with various challenges that hinder them from attending school during menstrual period.
Speaking during the menstrual hygiene day celebration yesterday, Iringa regional commissioner Amina Masenza said that the government in partnership with stakeholders will make sure that they overcome some of the challenge female students from both primary and secondary schools facing during menstrual periods.
The 'Menstrual Hygiene Day 2018' event fall on May 28 and the event associate panel discussion on menstruation and the taboo around it.
Masenza stated that the government is committed to ensuring that free education is available to all sexes, so that the issue of safe menstrual cycles for girls is a key element in the family, community, and even the educational institutions to provide education that will enable them to be aware of issues of menstruation.
She said that it is the responsibility of each one of us to ensure that a female girl attends her studies throughout the year without any barriers caused by poor environment or lack of budget in obtaining those special menstrual sanitary pads.
She urged the stakeholders and general public to break silence on issues of menstrual taboo for girls and women to enable them to have good access to sanitary towels every month as a special strategy to end the challenge.
"The challenges facing girls during menstrual periods should be extensively discussed with an objective of seeking long-lasting solution to the prevailing menstrual-related problems,” She said, adding that parents and guardians should see the importance of setting aside fund to foot expenses for needs during menstrual time.
However, RC Masenza advised girls in school-going age to remain at bay from issues that are irrelevant to education because by so doing they will, surely, overcome obstacles that hinder from realizing their dream.
RC advised the girls to observe hygiene especially when it comes to cleaning their underwear.
She also noted that in order for girls to have safe menstrual hygiene they must wearing pants that are dried in the sun, hence prevention of infection like Urinary Tract Infection (UTI) and cervical cancer.
In the beginning, Afya Plus Director Suzan Yumbe, who coordinated the ceremony, said that the purpose of the celebration was to break the silence on menstruation issues, including the misconceptions that menstruation is a disease and how to make sure that girls put themselves in hygienic condition and stay in school instead of missing studies every day.
The director of Afya Plus, a nongovernmental organization based in Iringa said good environmental sanitation, clean water and safe as well as specific clothing-changing rooms for girls while menstruation in the country should be stressed.
She said that the organization has since begun to provide menstrual education with over 600 pupils for different female students in various schools in the region.
Yumbe said that this year's celebration is in line with the slogan 'There are no more obstacles to women and girls getting safe menstrual', so the organization has a strategy to enable girls to get special sanitary pads that can be reuse them safely and will enable the girls to attend lessons.
Why does Menstrual Hygiene Matter?
Effective menstrual hygiene is vital to the health, well-being, dignity, empowerment, mobility and productivity of women and girls. Poor menstrual hygiene may cause stigma and ill health, and can lead to school absenteeism and increased school drop-out rates. Menstruation is a taboo subject across the world, which can lead to misinformation and the promotion of dangerous menstrual hygiene practices.
The issue of menstrual hygiene has been neglected and there is reluctance even within the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) sector to talk openly about this important subject. However, menstrual hygiene is gaining growing attention as a crucial aspect to achieving improved child health, education retention and gender equality.
Menstruation is a natural process; however, if not properly managed it can result in health problems. The impact of poor menstrual hygiene on the psycho-social wellbeing of women and girls (eg. stress levels, fear and embarrassment, and social exclusion during menstruation) should also be considered, this is according some media reports.
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