Menstruation hygiene at cyclone centres

Menstruation is a natural biological process. As it is directly linked to reproductive health, lack of proper menstrual hygiene can lead to infection, or even cervical cancer. Menstruating women have to use sanitary napkins or other alternatives for managing it.

However, the women living in the coastal areas get in trouble at the time of natural disasters when they have to move to cyclone shelters. These shelters usually do not have any facility for changing or disposing of used napkins. So girls and women have to use those unhygienic sanitary pads for a long time. This can make them vulnerable to several diseases. There is hardly any privacy in these shelters for women. So, hygiene management becomes a herculean task. If there is a shortage of napkins, there is no way to collect it during disasters as the shelter centres do not serve such things.

Therefore, we urge the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief to address the above issue on apriority basis. It is a must to ensure proper menstruation hygiene in the shelter centres during a natural calamity. Women toilets should be separated and specialised for managing their menstruation hygiene. Most importantly, a packet of sanitary napkins can be included with other relief goods for the menstruating women. Such initiatives taken by the authorities concerned may simply relieve coastal women of this particular woes during a disaster.

Samia Jahan,

HSC examinee,

Rajbari Government College, Rajbari,

jahan0.7samia@gmail.com