Kenya joins the world in marking Menstrual Hygiene Day – KBC

Kenya joined the world in marking the Menstrual Hygiene Day under the theme Action and Investment in Menstrual Hygiene.

Approximately 800 million women and girls across the globe face barriers to properly manage themselves during menstruation which calls for a world free of period poverty and stigma.

Menstrual Hygiene Day is marked on the 28 of May annually to create awareness about menstrual health across the world.

Speaking at DEB primary school in Nyeri Town the Deputy Governor Dr. Caroline Wanjiru Karugu urged the Ministry of Education urged to consider installing sanitary towel dispensers in all public schools for easy access.

Dr. Karugu who distributed sanitary pads to more than 250 girls from needy families in the Majengo and Witemere area said 15 pc of girls in the County have no access to sanitary pads and some are taken advantage of sexually in order to get money to purchase the commodity.

During similar celebrations at Ngewe Primary School in Ruiru, Kiambu County, health stakeholders decried the stigma surrounding menstruation and lack of financial resources which forces underprivileged women and girls to improvise.

Judy Sandia, the school headteacher noted that observing menstrual hygiene is a daunting task for many girls whose parents hardly earn enough to allow for better, healthy living standards.

In Baringo County, it emerged that social stigma and taboos surrounding menstrual hygiene prevent girls from attending school with calls for zero-rating of sanitary towels.

Baringo County Public Service Board Vice-Chair Dr. Stella Chebii who spoke at Ngambo girls in Baringo South said menstruation is not only a reproductive health concern but also a complex cultural, social, economic, and educational issue.

The Menstrual hygiene awareness campaign continued on Saturday where a section of women in Samburu county donated sanitary towels to girls.

Meanwhile, school-going girls in Bangladesh of Jomvu Sub-county in Mombasa County are set to benefit from free sanitary towels for the next 5 months courtesy of the FUJITA Company that is spearheading the construction of phase two of the Dongo Kundu bypass project.

The company will donate approximately 12,000 sanitary towels with each of the four primary schools in the slum area expected to receive a donation of 500 sanitary pads every month.

Statistics from the Ministry of Education published in 2018 indicate some girls miss 13 learning days in a term because of their monthly periods.