NGO embarks on awareness, training campaign on menstrual hygiene

A Non Governmental Agency, Prime Diamond Initiative for Community Health (PDICH) will embark on an awareness and training campaign project on the management of adolescent menstrual health and hygiene knowledge in the country.

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The founder of PDICH,  Ms Chinasa Onukegbe, disclosed in  a statement released on Friday in Abuja said the project was in partnership with Voice global, through “Hygiene and Menstrual Management (HYMEN)”.

Onukegbe said the project would have a direct impact on more than 5,000 girls in the three senatorial districts of Plateau state.

According to her, this will allow access to menstrual products and potentially increase school attendance for girls to reach their full potential.

“The project aims to empower more than 500 women through the production and distribution of products in rural communities in Plateau State.

“This will facilitate access to menstrual products as well as comprehensive knowledge about adolescent menstrual health and hygiene management.

“It will help maintain the hygiene of women and girls, improve their self-confidence, improve their self-esteem, reduce stigma, child marriage, teenage pregnancy and teenage transactional sex.

“It will also help them stay in school to reach their full potential.

“This will also boost employment in rural industry by enabling rural women to develop economically by providing direct and indirect jobs,” she said.

She said the essence of the awareness and training was because the evidence showed that the period around puberty was a time when many girls dropped out of school.

According to her, these are important times because of the lack of access to menstrual products.

She said that the limited access to safe, affordable, convenient and appropriate methods to treat menstruation has far-reaching implications for the rights, physical, social and mental well-being of many adolescent girls in Nigeria and other countries. in development.

According to Onkegbe, a large number of girls in Nigeria, especially in rural communities, do not have access to any form of health protection, thus obstructing their access to education, economic and social activities.

She said it not only affects an individual’s life and career prospects, but also affects the entire community in which they live.

The founder said there was also a lack of education, guidance or counseling on puberty and sexual and reproductive health, apart from the myths, taboos, stigma and shame that led to low self-esteem and other mental health issues.

Onukegbe, however, noted that the tax levied on menstrual products in Nigeria had by no means been helpful in reducing menstrual poverty.

She said a pack of menstrual pads could cost less than a dollar, but 50% of Nigerians lived in extreme poverty where women and girls made up over 70% of that population.

MTO/NNN