India Moves Towards Menstrual Hygiene: Subsidized Sanitary Napkins for Rural Adolescent Girls—Issues and Challenges (original) (raw)
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Critically Analysing the Menstrual Hygiene Scheme in India, 2011
Journal of Global Public Health, 2021
Menstruation is still subjected to a slew of societal, cultural, and religious constraints, which pose a significant impediment to proper menstrual hygiene management. Girls particularly in rural areas, are unprepared and unaware of menstruation, leading to several problems at home, in schools, and in an office. Adolescent girls are a particularly vulnerable population, especially in India, where the needs of female children have a history of ignorance. Women's voices are ignored in households, communities, and development programmes due to discriminating rights towards women of our country.
IOSR Journal of Dental and Medical Sciences, 2014
Menstruation is generally considered as unclean in the Indian society. Isolation of the menstruating girls and restrictions being imposed on them in the family, have reinforced a negative attitude towards this phenomenon. There is a substantial lacuna in the knowledge about menstruation among adolescent girls. Although menstruation is a natural process, it is linked with several misconceptions and practices. Hygiene-related practices of women during menstruation are of considerable importance, as it has a health impact in terms of increased vulnerability to reproductive tract infections (RTI). Good hygienic practices such as the use of sanitary pads and adequate washing of the genital area are essential during menstruation. Menstrual hygiene and management will directly contribute to the Millennium Development Goal (MDG)-2 on universal education and MDG-3 on gender equality and women empowerment.
Menstrual hygiene practices in young girls of urban India
International Journal of Reproduction, Contraception, Obstetrics and Gynecology, 2018
Background: Menstrual hygiene is an important aspect in the life of young girls.The present study aims at assessing the knowledge regarding menstruation and hygienic practices and perceptions during menstruation.Methods: It was a cross sectional study, conducted among 100 young girls of 20-22 years age to assess the awareness of menstrual hygiene. Data was collected by pre-tested questionnaire. Statistics was calculated in percentages.Results: Out of 100 girls, 71 (71%) knew about menstruation before menarche while 29 (29%) did not have any knowledge. 71 (71%) girls knew the cause of menstruation as physiological, 18 (18%) girls didn’t know the cause, 11 (11%) girls still believe it as curse of God. 68 (68%) girls knew the source of bleeding during menstruation as uterus, 20 (20%) girls thought it as vagina while 12 (12%) thought it as urethra. 64% girls use sanitary pads during menstruation, 19% girls used old cloth while 17% girls used new cloth during menstruation as adsorbent ma...
Menstrual Hygiene Awareness and Management: Still a Challenge for Indian Adolescent Girls
Annals of Tropical Medicine and Public Health, 2021
Background and objective: Menstruation is still considered as something to be ashamed of and to hide, and is consequently ignored in families, schools and community. In order to explore more in this area, present study was envisioned to identify the challenges of menstruation faced by adolescent girls of Vadodara city, Gujarat. Materials and method: Prospective study was conducted in 150 adolescent girls (13-19 yrs.), from rural area, urban area and medical students. Focus Group Discussion (FGD) was conducted regarding menstrual hygiene practices, management and other hindering factors of menstruation. Results: 82% of the rural girls were using cloth and 56% were reusing the same cloth, only 60% girls knew the proper method of disposal. Even 50% rural girls knew the proper method of maintaining genital hygiene. Major restriction for them was not allowing in temple and Kitchen. 3 girls from rural area were forced to leave the school after menarche. School absenteeism was also significantly more in rural girls. While in urban and medical girls 88% girls were using Pad and were 92% were disposing the pad properly. Surprisingly 62% medical girls were cleaning the genitalia with plain water and 12% didn't knew the cause and origin of menarche. Conclusion: A lot is done to educate rural adolescent girls through MHM program regarding menstrual hygiene, but still more efforts are needed to improve the menstrual hygiene practices. Author also suggests the awareness programs for better menstrual hygiene should to be the part of school curriculum with strict monitoring.
Menstrual Hygiene and Reproductive Morbidity in Adolescent Girls in Dehradun, India
Bangladesh Journal of Medical Science, 2014
Addressing reproductive health issues of women especially adolescents is now on the global social agenda. Adolescent girls constitute a vulnerable group in developing countries like India. Menstruation is still regarded as something unclean or dirty in Indian society. Although menstruation is a natural physiological process, it is linked with several misconceptions and practices, which sometimes result into adverse health outcomes. Good menstrual hygiene is crucial for the health, education, and dignity of girls and women. This is an important sanitation issue which has long been in the closet and still there is a long standing need to openly discuss it. Most of the time adolescent girls are unprepared-in terms of knowledge, skills and attitudes-for managing the menstrual cycle. Hygiene-related practices of girls and women during menstruation are of considerable importance, as it has a health impact in terms of increased vulnerability to Reproductive Tract Infections (RTI). The interplay of socioeconomic status, menstrual hygiene
BMC women's health, 2024
Background Menstruation is a major physiological change in a woman's life, but lack of knowledge, poor practices, socio-cultural barriers, poor access to products and their improper disposal have significant consequences on health, dignity and well-being of women and adolescent girls. Objectives This study aimed to assess the knowledge and practices related to menstrual health and hygiene amongst females of 10-49 years of age; explore the experiences and challenges of women during menstruation; and identify the key predictors of healthy menstrual health and hygiene. Methods Using a cross-sectional study design, we adopted a mixed methods approach for data collection. For quantitative household survey, a total of 921 respondents were selected from three districts of Odisha. Qualitative findings through focus group discussions and in-depth interviews supplemented the survey findings and helped to identify the barriers affecting good menstrual practices. Epi data version 2.5 and R 4.2.2 was used for data entry and data analysis, respectively. Descriptive statistics was used to calculate proportion, mean and standard deviation; Chi square test was used to measure the association between categorical variables. Bivariate and multivariate logistics analyses were done to identify predictors of healthy menstrual health and hygiene. For qualitative data analysis, thematic analysis approach was adopted using software Atlas.ti 8. Results For 74.3% respondents, mothers were the primary source of information; about 61% respondents were using sanitary pad. The mean age at menarche was 12.9 years and almost 46% of respondents did not receive any information about menstruation before menarche. Lower age and education up to higher secondary level or above had statistically significant associations with the knowledge about menstruation. Age, caste, respondent's education, mother's education, sanitation facility, availability of water, accessibility and affordability for sanitary pads were found to be strongly associated with good menstrual hygiene practices.
2012
Background: Adolescents are often less informed, less experienced, and less comfortable accessing reproductive health information and services than adults. In many developing countries, a culture of silence surrounds the topic of menstruation and related issues; as a result many young girls lack appropriate and sufficient information regarding menstrual hygiene. This may result in incorrect and unhealthy behaviour during their menstrual period. Objectives: To assess and compare knowledge, belief, ideas, source of knowledge and practice of menstrual hygiene between school-going adolescents in an urban and a rural school of West Bengal, India. Methods: Cross-sectional, descriptive study was conducted among adolescent female students of Howrah district of West Bengal, India in the year 2011. Data was collected by pre-designed, pre-tested semi-structured self administered questionnaire. Results: The mean age at menarche was 12.1 years among urban and 12.2 years among the rural participants. More than 80% participants had some restrictions imposed during menstruation. Significantly higher number of urban girls had premenarchal knowledge on menstruation and used sanitary napkins. Conclusions: Menstrual hygiene is a vital aspect of health education for adolescent girls. For improvement of menstrual hygiene, sanitary napkins should be made universally available and affordable.
Journal of Pharmacy Practice and Community Medicine
Objective: To study the knowledge and practice regarding menstrual hygiene in rural adolescent school going girls of Achrol, Jaipur-Rajasthan. Methods and materials: It is a cross-section school based study on adolescent girls between the ages of 10-19 years of age. The study period of data collection from January 2015 to June 2016. Sampling technique: Descriptive type of observational study. Sample size: 400 adolescent school girls. Statistical measures: percentages and proportions. Results: Out of the total 400 adolescent girls, it was found that majority of the girls i.e. 85.5% were using sanitary pads, most of them belonged to middle income group. Cleaning of genitals after urination and changing pads was seen in 73.5% and 73.2% of the adolescent girls respectively. 85.5% of the girls disposed their pads in the dustbin. However there were 14.5% girls who used cloth during menstruation and washed and reused it. Conclusion: Almost 90% i.e. 85.5% of the adolescent girls used sanitary pads instead of cloth and at least 75% i.e. 73.5% practiced cleaning of genitals after urination. Though a majority of the girls were aware of the use of proper menstrual absorbent and the proper disposal of the used pads, still proper training and health education (by family members, teachers, health educators and media) should be imparted so that there won't be any misconception regarding menstrual hygiene amongst the adolescent girls.
International Journal of Community Medicine and Public Health, 2021
Menstrual hygiene management (MHM) is an integral part of swachh Bharat mission guidelines (SBM-G) in India. Managing menses effectively with dignity can be challenging for adolescent girls at school. There are a number of social and hygiene taboos around menstruation in many countries, leaving girls with a sense of shame, stigma, lower confidence and confusion to deal with monthly menstrual management issues. Girls studying in government run primary schools commonly miss school during menses because of lack of accessibility to resources, facilities or information they need for good hygienic MHM. In a peri-urban population in Uganda menstruation was strongly associated with missed school days. A study in India showed that only 12% of menstruating women used sanitary pads and 70% of women cited cost as a major barrier for using them. In June 2011, the Government of India launched a new scheme to make sanitary pads available in selected rural areas at a subsidized cost of Rs 6 per pac...
Universal Journal of Public Health, 2023
Introduction: Menstrual health is defined as a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not mere absence of disease or infirmity in relation to the menstrual cycle. As per the recent National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5), 77.3% of young women in India use hygienic methods. Objectives: To assess the knowledge, attitude, and practices regarding menstruation among school-going adolescent girls. Methods: A community-based cross-sectional study was carried out among 4 high schools for a period of 6 months. Sample size was calculated to be 350. Among the selected 4 schools, 90 students (45 students studying in 9th std. and 45 students studying in 10th std) were chosen from each school based on convenient sampling method. The data was collected by self-administration of a pre-tested, semi-structured questionnaire that contained questions on demographic characteristics, perception, source of information, and hygiene practices. The collected data was entered into Microsoft Excel and analysed using SPSS version 20.0. Results: 62.9% of study participants were studying in 9th standard. Majority of the study participants answered that the normal age at menarche is 11-15 years (77.7%, n=272), the menstrual cycle normally occurs once a month (92.9%, n=325) and menstruation doesn't occur during pregnancy (87.14%, n=305). 82.85% (n=290) of study participants agreed that sanitary pad is the ideal absorbent material during menstruation. Majority of (80.3%, n=281) study participants used sanitary pads as absorbents during menstruation. 31.70% (n=111) of the adolescent school girls had to miss their school due to menstruation. Conclusion: Although the knowledge about menstruation is high among the participants, it is of great concern to us that the usage of cloth as an absorbent still prevails among the participants and most of them practice restrictions during menstruation.