No lockdown on menstrual health and hygiene, in a pandemic

New Delhi : FairGaze and India Is Us (I2U Social Foundation) organized an event on 8th June 2021 for the free distribution of sanitary napkins to women and girls in Khora Colony, Noida. This event was supported by Unicharm (under their CSR initiative). The pad distribution drive was facilitated byShashakt Foundation, a partner NGO to I2U under the campaign #OneDayForMensturalHygiene which aims to distribute 50,000 sanitary napkins in the slums of Delhi NCR. Being a basic necessity for female health, the campaign is aimed to bring this sensitive topic into focus. The event covered the topics such as importance of menstrual hygiene, use of sanitary pads and its importance.

According to the National Family Health Survey 2015-2016, only 36 percent of women use sanitary pads i.e., out of 336 million menstruating women only about 121 million women are using sanitary napkins, locally or commercially produced. In India still, more than 300 million women and girls rely on old clothes/rags. These alarming statistics calls for an urgent action to spread menstrual health and hygiene practices and ensure easy access to sanitary napkins.

Mr. Vivek Atray, Advisor at FairGaze said, “We need to make consistent efforts on spreading awareness on menstrual hygiene and not just react to emergency and crisis.” This campaign, he believes, is a good start towards bringing in the much-required change. 

Ms. Alisha, Head, I2U added, “We are thankful to Unicharm and Shashakt for their generous support to the #OneDayForMenstrualHygiene campaign. Safe and sustainable menstrual hygiene products should be accessible to all. They are a necessity not luxury.”