Health Alert: Teenage Girls Are Using Tissue Papers, Toilet Rolls As Sanitary Pads

Some adolescent girls in Mangoase in the Akuapem North Municipality of the Eastern Region have resorted to using toilet papers (toilet roll) and tissue papers as sanitary pads during menstruation due to poverty.

The teenagers whose parents are wallowing in abject poverty are unable to afford buying sanitary pads for the adolescent girls compelling them to resort to the use of unprescribed materials to absorb menstrual blood.

This was revealed when Divine Mother and Child foundation, (DMAC), a reproductive, maternal and children healthcare nongovernmental Organization in the Eastern Region distributed its maiden quantities of Sanitary pads to the Adolescent Club of Mangoase community as part of its “Sanitary Pad Bank Project” with targeted beneficiaries of over 2000 adolescent girls in rural parts of the region this year.

Speaking to the media, the President of DMAC, Edmund Doudu said, Menstrual hygiene is a major challenge affecting health and punctuality of teenage girls in School in many rural areas with high poverty level.

He said due to poverty menstrual hygiene are not being managed well by these girls thereby using pads,rags and other unhygienic materials to manage menstrual flow.

He said "In India for instance, government has subsidized Sanitary pads for rural areas making it affordable and available. At recent International Women’s Day Celebration ,a biodegradable sanitary napkins were launched in the country as part of effort to improve menstrual hygiene .

"However, in Ghana,government is yet to introduce any major intervention to address this challenge for adolescent girls in rural parts of the country despite calls by women activists to government to reduces taxes on Sanitary pads".

The Ghana Education Service (GES), in collaboration with UNICEF, in 2017 released a research report on the dissemination of Menstrual Hygiene Management (MHM) in Accra. The occasion also saw the launch of educational materials on MHM.

The research revealed disturbing situation of the state of Menstrual hygiene in many parts of the country due to poverty,religion and cultural factors.

Mr Duodu disclosed that menstrual hygiene is real challenge in rural areas in the region hence the sanitary pads project which seeks to help address this problems among the adolescent girls .

He said the project also attaches intensive adolescent reproductive health education to holistically create awareness among the teenage girls.

He appealed to philanthropists and companies dealing in the sale of Sanitary pad products to support the project.