Akuapem-Akropong, May 30, GNA – Dr Naana Agyemang-Mensah, Board Member of the Rotary Action Group for Menstrual Health and Hygiene has observed that menstrual insecurity psychologically affects women and girls.
She noted that women and girls who constituted over 50 percent of the country’s population mostly hid themselves during those five days of the month due to societal stigmatization, hence, missing out on various activities geared towards empowerment and economic improvement.
Dr Agyemang-Mensah made the remark during a donation of 1,400 sanitary pads to 320 girls at Mampong School for the Blind and the Demonstration School for the Deaf, at Mampong to mark the World Menstrual Hygiene Day.
The donation was organized by the Rotary Club of Accra-Airport in collaboration with the United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNDFPA).
Dr Agyemang-Mensah observed that some girls, especially those in underserved communities, left school because they were unable to handle the stress during menstruation adding “a girl misses five days in school and by the time she will return her colleagues are far ahead of her, She then gives up when she is tired”.
Dr Agyemang-Mensah observed that the physically challenged were no exception in the menstrual stress situation and must be properly educated and provided with menstrual health resources as support.
Ms Christy Soboh, the House Mistress of the School for the Blind noted that some of the girls used cloths and tissue papers during menstruation which exposed them to various infections and prevented them from taking part in school activities during the period.
Ms Nana Saam Osafo, Rotarian President of the Rotary Club, Akuapem Ridge said this year the club chose to celebrate the World Menstrual Hygiene Day with the People’s With Disabilities (PWDs), deprived and the needy in the society.
World Menstrual Hygiene Day is celebrated every year to raise awareness on menstrual hygiene and the difficulty of many girls in remote communities who cannot afford sanitary pads,The theme for this year’s celebration is “making menstruation a normal fact of life by 2030”.
Source: Ghana News Agency
