Family Health University College supports 1,500 females with sanitary pads

The Family Health University College has donated over 1,500 packets of sanitary pads to students of the Ledzokuku Municipal Authority (LEKMA) Southern Cluster of Schools to mark this year’s Menstrual Hygiene Day. 

The day is observed worldwide annually on May 28 to raise awareness of the difficulties women and girls face during menstruation.

Various stakeholders, including health professionals, gender activists, educators, NGOs and conscientious citizens, strive to provide education and support to eradicate period poverty and its detrimental effects. 

This year’s commemoration, on the theme: “Together for a period-friendly World”, envisions a world free from the stigma and taboos associated with menstruation. The donation by Family Health University College was done at the Presbyterian Church Hall at Teshie where over 600 girls from 17 junior and senior high schools from the LEKMA Southern Cluster of Schools benefited from the interaction with the staff and students of the university college on acceptable menstrual practices.

A lecturer and clinical coordinator at the Family Health Medical School, who represented the university, Dr Naa Adorkor Sodzi-Tettey, educated the girls on menstruation and safe practices. 

She emphasised that menstruation was a natural and normal process which should not be stigmatised, and called on the LEKMA Municipal Director of Education to prioritise and improve washroom facilities.  

“We cannot educate girls every year to change their pads regularly and wash their hands after changing when there is no decent place in the school for doing that: no privacy, no water, no soap,” Dr Sodzi-Tettey said.

She further called for innovative and sustainable solutions for a period-friendly world for girls and encouraged girls to use reusable materials for their periods provided they were washed and dried well before being reused.  

Dr Sodzi-Tettey used the opportunity to demonstrate the use of a reusable menstrual product that is being produced by some entrepreneurs and NGOs. The LEKMA Municipal Director of Education, Theresa Tetteh, stressed the need for more support for girls to manage their periods safely and confidently.

She therefore expressed her gratitude to the Family Health University College and urged other organisations, donors and the public to follow suit and support girls in underprivileged communities who struggle to access menstrual products.

In a similar vein, the Municipal Health Director, Dr Gifty Ofori Ansah, called for prioritising the menstrual hygiene policy in the government’s Girl Child Education agenda and  encouraged girls to seek professional help and guidance from their counsellors and teachers on menstrual hygiene challenges.