The premium quality of menstrual products for rural women is still a roadblock towards menstrual hygiene. NFHS-4 has shed light on the plight of rural women. Only 48.2% of women aged 15-24 years in rural areas practice menstrual hygiene.
Several schemes have been enacted to ensure sanitary practices. One such plan is ‘Menstrual Hygiene Scheme‘, which supposedly endorses the idea of menstrual hygiene. It was launched by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in the year 2011. It covers 107 districts in over 17 states.
However, this scheme faces multilayered issues like lack of awareness, unsafe disposal techniques, poor quality of sanitary pads and their inequitable supply. Rural self-help groups produce the sanitary pads which are manufactured under the scheme, and quality control measures are designated to the states. Still, the quantity of disposable sanitary napkins is inadequate due to which they end up using cloth pads.
The Catastrophe Of Ill Supply Of Sanitary Napkins
Improper use of cloth pads can lead to urinary and reproductive tract infections, bacterial vaginosis, fungal infections, yeast infections, cervical cancer and toxic shock syndrome. Urinary tract infections are one of the most widespread forms of infections in menstruators, mainly caused due to poor menstrual hygiene.
The consumption of sanitary pads under the scheme was notably low in Himachal Pradesh and Odisha due to poor quality. Delhi faced irregular supply, Chattisgarh remained deprived, and Maharashtra complained of poor quality of sanitary napkins.
The utilization of funds pan India recently has been 19.72%. The unending wait for the supply has been termed as “self-defeating” by one of the senior officials. The scheme has failed to incorporate the vital initiative of awareness as it’s core agenda which has debilitated its outcome. The biggest hurdle of using a sanitary napkin is affordability.
Lockdown: Salt On The Wounds
The pandemic has wreaked havoc on women in terms of acute shortage of sanitary napkins. The nationwide lockdown has exacerbated the issue by restricting the production of sanitary napkins, thereupon creating a “silent health disaster“. With schools being shut down, free access to sanitary napkins by the government has come to a standstill compelling girls to fall back on the traditional approach of usage of cloth and rags.
Maya, a 16-year-old inhabitant of Delhi, can’t afford sanitary napkins and has thereby resorted to her brother’s old t-shirts for her periods. Before the lockdown, she relied on her state-run school for a pack of ten.
Moreover, it has been observed that many young girls have complained of painful and heavy periods which is a direct monstrous outcome of the pandemic induced stress. Girls are anxious and stressed over their uncertainty of the future.
Another problem which has gained attention is the subject of disposal of pads. Women dispose of them in a private place where men won’t notice. But, due to the pandemic, their private spaces have encroached.
There are organizations which are striving to provide sanitary napkins door to door to marginalized women amidst the current scenario. Online campaigning and donations can help in facilitating this.
Peer support volunteer groups or even individual volunteering can be excellent initiatives which citizens can carry at their level. Celebrities and philanthropists can raise funds for the distribution of sanitary napkins or use their platform to spread awareness.
But, it should be the prerogative of the government to step up by making use of the infrastructure and employing the workforce to ensure last-mile delivery. The Government of Jharkhand, under ‘Ayushman Bharat Scheme‘ is endeavouring to implement a universal health care system with a motto of “leaving no one behind“. It has ensured quality health care at the doorstep to the vulnerable section of society.
The author is a part of the current batch of the #PeriodParGyan Writer’s Training Program