Taking care of hygiene is very important for menstruating women. A little negligence in menstrual hygiene management can cause them serious harm. Even today, when several menstrual hygiene products like sanitary napkins, tampons, and menstrual cups are available; many women do not use the most basic form of menstrual protection available in the market. Instead, they use old rags, or pieces of clothes, particularly in rural Bangladesh. Poor menstrual hygiene can pose serious health risks, like reproductive and urinary tract infections. Negligence to wash hands after changing menstrual products can spread infections, such as hepatitis B and other diseases.
Menstruation or period is a natural thing for women of reproductive age and indicates a healthy life. Yet, many people - both men and women - consider the monthly period cycle an illness. The truth is that menstruation has a lot of information as well as misinformation about it, but only the latter is more easily accessible. As a result, there are hushed conversations around this particular type of hygiene, leading to complicated health problems. While the taboos plague all strata of society irrespective of the financial status or the level of education, rural areas in Bangladesh are far more impacted due to the lack of delivery of sanitation services and medical support. Year after year, with the start of their periods, thousands of girls drop out of schools owing to inaccessibility to sanitary products and information regarding healthy hygiene practices. Against this backdrop, we will celebrate Menstrual Hygiene Day tomorrow in Bangladesh and elsewhere across the globe.
It is not acceptable that because of a natural bodily function women and girls continue to be prevented from getting an education, earning an income and fully and equally participating in everyday life. So, we should raise the awareness among our people to consider menstruation a normal affair and educate them about the importance of sanitation facilities for girls and women.
Ashikujaman Syed,
Research Assistant,
Bioinformatics Research Lab,
Center for Research Innovation and Development (CRID),
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