By Doris Obinna
On May 28, the global community marked the 2024 World Menstrual Hygiene Day, a time to spotlight the importance of menstrual health, which must be recognized as the complete physical, mental, and social wellbeing of women and girls in relation to the menstrual cycle.
The date, May 28, symbolises the average 28-day menstrual cycle and the average duration of menstruation, which is five days, thus reinforcing the importance of the cause it champions.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), the oldest known records of menstrual hygiene products date to ancient Egypt, where people utilized softened papyrus as a means of absorbing menstrual blood. “In resource-constrained indigenous communities, organic materials were likely employed for this purpose. There is speculation that Vikings used bog moss.”
A global report reveals major gaps in menstrual health and hygiene in schools; around the world, menstrual health and hygiene needs are being overlooked due to limited access to information, education, products and services, as well as inadequate facilities and inequalities.
According to the report, worldwide, only two out of five schools; 39 per cent provide menstrual health education. This increases in secondary schools, with 84 per cent of secondary schools in Central and Southern Asia, for example, providing menstrual education, compared to 34 per cent in primary schools.
“Less than one in three schools; 31 per cent globally have bins for menstrual waste in girls’ toilets. This drops to one in five schools in least developed countries; 17 per cent, and only one in 10 schools or 11per cent in sub-Saharan Africa. Menstrual products are not always readily available, with many unable to afford them. In sub-Saharan Africa, for example, only one in eight schools; 12 per cent provide menstrual materials for free or for purchase.
“In many countries, adolescent schoolgirls do not have access to a clean toilet or other dedicated private space to change menstrual products in school. Unequal access to water and soap is an additional issue for millions of adolescent schoolgirls. Girls in urban areas, private schools and girls-only schools are more likely to have access to a private place with water and soap, highlighting inequalities even within the same country.”
The report underscores the urgent need for global action to improve menstrual health and hygiene in schools. By addressing these issues, every schoolgirl can manage her menstruation with dignity, safety, and confidence.
It also includes progress on broader access to water, sanitation, and hygiene in schools. Today, one in five 5 children (447 million) still lack basic drinking water services at their school, one in five lack basic sanitation services (427 million), and one in three children (646 million) don’t have access to basic hygiene services, according to latest data.
Commemorating the 2024 World Menstrual Hygiene Day, Special Adviser to the Governor on Health, Dr. Kemi Ogunyemi emphasized that menstrual hygiene is a public health issue that affects the health, wellbeing, and dignity of women and girls globally and must be regarded as a fundamental right for women and adolescent girls.
Ogunyemi explained that the 2024 World Menstrual Hygiene Day celebration, themed “Together for a Period Friendly World,” is an annual global day of awareness and action to promote good menstrual health among women and adolescent girls.
She added that this year’s celebration aims to create a Lagos where the importance of menstrual hygiene is understood, and the stigma and taboos surrounding menstruation are eradicated.
She noted that the event, held annually on May 28, is significant because the “28” represents the average 28-day menstrual cycle, and the 5th month signifies an average of 5 days of menstrual flow.
“The World Menstrual Hygiene Day is a global campaign uniting governments, NGOs, private organizations, individuals, and the media to promote good menstrual health and hygiene. The choice of May 28 is intentional and unique, symbolizing the 28-day menstrual cycle and the 5-day menstrual flow.”
Ogunyemi elaborated that the Lagos State Government, in collaboration with Vcare for Development Foundation (VCDF), is commemorating the 2024 World Menstrual Hygiene Day with a weeklong series of activities from May 29 to June 5, 2024. According to her, these activities aim to reach at least 500,000 female students across the state with menstrual health information and distribute over 20,000 sanitary pads to female students in secondary schools.
Access to resources and information
Ogunyemi said the state government’s commitment to ensuring that every menstruating female student has access to the necessary resources, information, and facilities to manage her menstruation hygienically. Stating that, research indicates that many menstruating students stay home during their periods due to a lack of access to menstrual products and pain relief.
“As a government, we are responsible for ensuring that every menstruating female has access to the necessary resources, information, and facilities to manage her menstruation hygienically. This includes access to affordable and quality menstrual products, clean and safe sanitary facilities, and education to dispel myths and misconceptions surrounding menstruation.
“Research has revealed that many menstruating students stay home during their periods due to a lack of access to menstrual products and pain relief. Some of them use rags or cloth to manage their menstrual flow.”
Social inclusion
Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Ministry of Health, Dr. Olusegun Ogboye noted that the state government prioritizes social inclusion, gender equality, and youth empowerment. He added that Lagos continues to lead in implementing interventions to positively influence the menstrual health and hygiene of girls and women in the state.
“As we know, reproductive health rights, gender equality, and youth empowerment resonate strongly in the T.H.E.M.E.S Plus agenda of this administration, ensuring the inclusion of all citizens regardless of their social or gender status,” he said.
He urged all stakeholders, including the private sector, civil society, and individuals, to join the state government in advancing menstrual hygiene to ensure that every woman and girl can manage her menstruation safely, hygienically, and with pride.
WHO and the United Nation (UN) special programme on Human Reproduction Programme (HRP) have made strides to bring menstruation onto the global health agenda thanks to a strategic approach to building upon research that includes what adolescents ask for and need.
Commitments to health
According to WHO, most recently, in partnership with United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), Global Menstrual Health Collective and Columbia University, WHO and HRP made commitments on menstrual health to the Water Action Agenda at the UN Water Summit in March 2023 to advocate for countries to include promotive, preventative and curative health services, as well as access to adequate water supply and sanitation in their national universal health coverage policies and strategies.
“This was a logical follow-up to call for action and a commitment WHO and HRP made at the Human Rights Council in 2022: WHO statement on menstrual health and rights. A decade and a half of incremental work on adolescent menstrual health provided the foundation and the springboard for these commitments.”
Adolescents unpreparedness
Research shows adolescent girls continue to be uninformed and unprepared for menstruation, with feelings of exclusion and shame leading to misconceptions. This common lack of knowledge becomes a barrier to education and can negatively impact self-confidence and personal development.
This understanding has led to a set of five action points for WHO’s work in menstrual health; educate girls about menstruation, create norms that see menstruation as healthy and positive, improve access to sanitary products, running water, functional toilets and privacy, improve care for and support by girls’ families and improve access to competent and caring health workers.
Also, the National Program Manager, VCDF, Mr James Odey stated that his organization is keen in ensuring that adolescent girls remain in school as statistics shows that most out of school children are girls with issues around menstruation.
“Our interest is to ensure that our girls remain in school and ensure that they are able to take care of themselves and the awareness we create is that they help their own peer group as well. We are all aware of the statistics of girls and children who are out of school and when we disaggregate that we discover that those who are most affected are the girls and it is not unconnected with issues around menstruation.
“We will not relent in our collaborative efforts in ensuring that adolescent girls and women have access to proper menstrual hygiene practices.”
Landscaping for the future
“The call to use the term menstrual health, rather than menstrual hygiene, is a result of work with a broad range of partners committed to bringing menstrual health into the global health agenda through a consistent, self-contained definition developed by the Terminology Action Group of the Global Menstrual Collective.
“HRP and WHO also worked with partners to review the state of the menstrual health field in order to map the next ten years, and what it will take to achieve the vision of health for all. The review covered the cross-sectoral nature of menstrual health and indicated WHO’s role in strengthening the health sector response.
“Finally, the provision of promotive, preventive and curative health services in WHO’s Universal Health Coverage Compendium of Services makes full use of the momentum of the Universal Health Coverage movement to mainstream menstrual health in the work of ministries of health. The work to bring menstruation into sexual and reproductive health and rights, gender, education and humanitarian settings continues.”