“The ongoing coronavirus pandemic has a global impact on menstrual hygiene and health. Lockdowns, closed borders and shuttered economy are having far-reaching consequences for many people. One of these impacts is on women’s menstrual health. On top of that, there are many myths surrounding menstruation and COVID-19 circulating around the world, such as menstruation is a symptom of COVID-19 and menstruating people are more likely to infect others. Such baseless facts and stigma surrounding the menstruation should be busted. At times, it is difficult for patients in hospitals and in quarantine to obtain menstrual hygiene products. Therefore, the concerned authority must address this potential loss of access by ensuring adequate supplies, and staff need to be trained to sensitively meet these needs. Around 70 per cent of healthcare workers are women, therefore they should have easy access to menstrual hygiene products” Padmshree Dr Alka Kriplani, Director & Head, Centre for Minimally Invasive Gynecology, Obstetrics & ART, Paras Hospital Gurugram.
On menstruation hygiene day, we should work on mending the gender gap and social taboos attached with it. Women should be more vocal about it and they should freely discuss about it. And, the training of men should start from home. The female members don’t need to hide their pads or menstrual cups or tampons from them. Rather than feeling ashamed of themselves on those days of the month, women should take pride in it because menstruation is a sign of fertility. Dr Akta Bajaj, Sr Consultant and head- Obstetrics and Gynecology, Ujala Cygnus group of Hospitals.
Kamal Narayan Omer, CEO, Integrated Health and Wellbeing (IHW) Council Menstrual health is a right of every woman in reproductive age and in absence of access to right information and conditions, a woman’s health can take a serious beating. In India, about 36 per cent of the women in the reproductive age group have basic and rightful access to sanitary napkins, and the rest resort to unhygienic means. It is well known that lack of access to hygienic sanitary napkins can increase the risk of contracting cervical cancer, infections of the reproductive tract and urinary tract, hepatitis B, and various yeast infections for these women. The central government’s Suvidha sanitary napkins, sold at Janaushadhi Kendras for Re 1 a piece, have the potential to bring the much-needed respite for these women. However, the government must pay attention to its availability and ensure they reach the intended consumers despite the COVID-induced disruptions. Besides, even in the third decade of the 21st century, the importance of making women aware of menstruation and menstrual hygiene cannot be overemphasized. The curriculum must have the provision to inform girls about this obvious and long-term physiological change in them, which will also save them from misinformation and abuse of any kind.
Ever since the pandemic started, there have been concerns about hygiene and safety; both are paramount when it comes to menstrual health. Amid the struggle to save millions of lives from the novel coronavirus, almost half of the world population consisting of girls and women, especially in the lower socio-economic strata, has been facing additional problems related to menstruation. Given the raging pandemic, the focus on building infrastructure and enabling access to menstrual health and hygiene slips, but that will be a costly mistake. Menstrual hygiene is an important health enabler for women in the reproductive age group, especially in India where social and cultural mores make it challenging to access menstrual hygiene needs such as a sanitary napkin. At the same time, we have seen many educated women falling for infections caused by lack of personal hygiene — the rise in the number of women suffering from pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) is a big concern, not only because it affects her fertility but also increases her risk of complications during pregnancy and childbirth.they also increase the risk of urinary tract infections and renal problems. Simple measures such as washing and drying the genital area with water after urinating, avoiding unclean washrooms, and sanitising seats before use are some handy measures that women must follow as a part of developing menstrual hygiene practices. Also with vaccination drive going on in full swing, adequate measures must be taken to contain misinformation around vaccination relating it to menstruation. Dr Sharmila Solanki, Sr Consultant Obstretics & Gynaecologist, Columbia Asia Hospital, Palam Vihar
