Menstrual hygiene is one topic which remains not discussed in India. The lack of menstrual hygiene is a reason for many health issues in women, yet its least considered. It’s alarming to see the number of girls who drop out of school once they reach puberty. The unawareness of menstruation and the lack of proper menstrual hygiene management facilities are the main reasons for this.
In a move to create awareness on menstrual hygiene, the Zone 22 of ‘Prayas’ initiative of Junior Chamber International (JCI) and NIINE sanitary napkins will be organising different awareness programmes across the state. There are four zones for Prayas in Kerala and Zone 22 covers the stretch of Vaikom to Thiruvananthapuram. “Women all over India suffer from menstrual hygiene issues. If we check the statistics, it’s shocking to know that out of 100 persons, only 18 uses sanitary napkins. This really leads to many health issues. We live in a time where women are prone to problems like cervical cancer and PCOD. Another big issue women face is infertility and it’s on a steep rise. The main reason for all this is the unhygienic practices during menstruation time. So that’s why we at zone 22 have taken up the idea to spread awareness on menstrual hygiene,” says Anupama Sandeep, Zonal ambassador.
Lack of initial awareness creates trouble for girls during their puberty. These can lead to depression and other trauma. The parents and teachers never give a proper awareness on menstruation and this really affects the girls. “In the rural areas, most of the children aren’t aware about the menstruation period until it happens. So a sudden change can lead them to issues like depression. Also the schools in the interior areas lack facilities for menstrual hygiene. So our awareness programmes will be primarily focussed on schools in the interior areas,” she adds. The school programmes will include power talks and sessions with doctors. Power talks focuses on the menstrual hygiene and the doctors from their team will take have interactive sessions with the children, so that their concerns will be openly discussed and answered.
NIINE will be providing 10,000 free sanitary napkins to the deprived women in the zone. They have also come up with an interesting idea ‘sponsoring a girl child’. This is aimed at helping the underprivileged children to get sanitary napkins throughout the year. For this, an organisation or individual can sponsor a child for a year by giving Rs 365. This makes them part of the awareness campaign and a child will be getting sanitary napkins the whole year. “This is another way we can create awareness on menstrual hygiene,” says Anupama.
The awareness programmes has already begun in different parts. And they will also programmes on menstrual hygiene in the zone on the 9th of every month. They are also planning for a rally on March 8th, the International Women’s Day. The rally will be organised across the country with all 25 zones participating, which will have women-only car and bike ride. A plan of walkathon or marathon is also on the cards. “We are planning a blood donation camp next month which aims at Guinness book record. The blood donation will take place in eight places at the zones and will include the participation of many women. We are currently on a planning phase. We will be also conducting rallies on the International Menstrual Hygiene Day. The women-only car and bike ride will take place from Thiruvananthapuram to Kasaragod,” says Anup Kumar G., President, JCI Zone 22.
