‘Only 58.8% of women in Bihar use hygienic methods of protection during menstruation’: Survey

As per the National Family and Health Survey, only 58.8% of women in Bihar, in the age group of menstruation, use hygienic methods of protection during their menstrual cycle.

The survey states that out of 58.8% of women, only 56% of rural women use hygienic methods while 74.7% of such women are in urban areas.

This has been the situation of menstrual hygiene in the state despite women having a considerable percentage of reservations in panchayat and government jobs. Experts say menstruation is still taboo, especially in rural areas and small towns. There’s still little awareness about menstrual hygiene management among women and adolescent girls, they said.

Considering the need for awareness about menstrual hygiene management and of the facilities and materials required to maintain hygiene during the Covid-19 pandemic, UNICEF, Bihar, has appealed to the people to post their pictures with a red dot on their palm, along with a slogan on menstrual hygiene management, on social media platforms like Instagram, Twitter and Facebook on Menstrual Hygiene Management (MHM) Day on May 28.

“Menstrual hygiene day (MH Day) is a global advocacy platform that brings together the voices and actions of non-profits, government agencies and individuals to promote good menstrual hygiene management for all women and girls. It’s observed on May 28 as the average duration of a menstrual cycle is 28 days,” Nipurnh Gupta, media coordinator, UNICEF, Bihar, said.

A dedicated day for menstrual hygiene came into effect in 2014 in a bid to create awareness among people to stop considering menstruation a taboo and discuss the challenges of its management, she added.

“Challenges related to its management must be far more severe during the Covid pandemic. As per the World Health Organisation (WHO), 70% of workers in the health and social sector are women. They are the front-line health workers, like nurses, midwives and community health workers,” she said.

“As there is a lack of awareness about menstrual hygiene management in our society, there’s every possibility that the facility managers at any centre may miss out on arranging these materials for women frontline workers. Also, those women employees who have been using PPE kits must be in double trouble. Putting on these kits while working at the Covid care centre and removing it when there’s the need to change menstrual hygiene materials must be a big challenge for female health care workers,” she added.

Besides, female patients at Covid-19 quarantine centres may not have access to menstrual hygiene management materials. In many cases, piped water supply or hand wash materials may not be available at many places, she added.

“In rural areas, girls used to get sanitary pads at their schools. But the schools have remained closed for the last several months. Even if it will open, the materials may not be available in the stock,” she said. These are some basic issues regarding menstrual hygiene management and women and adolescents must be having a tough time these days, she stated.

Prabhakar Sinha, the WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene) specialist, said the impacts of poor knowledge about menstruation hygiene management must be severe during the Covid pandemic and lockdown.

“Though the government has been doing a lot to raise awareness among females, there’s the need to involve common people in this campaign as well. For better results, it should be turned into a social movement,” he said.

“This is why many sections of people, including youth, teachers and social activists, have been involved in the virtual sessions. Social media platforms too have been used as a tool to disseminate information about menstrual hygiene management,” he added.