Experience or Research in the Use of Reusable Menstrual Pads?

Published on by in Academic

It is becoming a normal practice in most rural areas in developing countries to have poor and vulnerable girls use old clothes and rags as sanitary pads.

This is owing largely due to the increasing price of sanitary materials, which the girls cannot afford. In order to curb this trend,  there has been some trainings on the reuse of reusable menstrual pads by small NGOs. 

In as much as this might sound interesting, has anyone done a research or have practical experience on the feasibility and hygienic nature of this process? Is this a sustainable solution?


Thank you in advance

Taxonomy

3 Answers

  1. According to the secondary literature available, reusable sanitary pads have one key advantage, they are low cost and that its production processes is localized. From a market point of view I will argue that it’s an inferior sanitary product filling the rural sanitary demand where income poverty has made it impossible for rural women and girls to afford the more personally hygienic disposable sanitary pad. 

  2. Hello Temple, likewise, many organizations are working on this issues. Howeve, In case of Nepal, affordable sani pads produced and introduced to support the rural girls so that they will be able to attend school during the monthly period. Nevertheless, disposal of sani pads at school washroom or at home was not possible due to no proper waste management practices in most of the village's in Nepal. Few organizations supported school to build waste or disposable items container considering the WASH principles. Discourse remains whether people will afford to build such containers at house? They find more appropriate to use clothes, coz it's washable and reuse, considering the fact unaware of hygiene and sanitation components. 

     

  3. Hi Temple.  There has been quite a bit of research on this topic. Often there is a sense of shame about hanging washed cloths used for padding to dry properly. This can create health and hygiene issues. There are a number of initiatives related to developing low-cost recyclable pads (Ugandan MakaPads are made from paper and papyrus). Also OPads, Safi Pads, etc., as part of various processes that appear to have been quite successful. Also a more recent one of manufacture from discarded banana stem that someone I spoke with was quite excited about. And across the world there are lessons in good practice regarding teaching girls on the most hygienic vare and storage ofsanitary cloths. Maybe there are some solid lessons to be learnt from that process that may be of help to you. Good luck with your work. You're involved in an area of work that holds massive importance and still receives far too little acknowledgement and support.