New Delhi: Use of sanitary napkins in Odisha stood at just about 33.5 per cent as against the national average of 57.6 per cent, the latest National Family Health Survey (NFHS) data has said.
The report said that only 30.3 pc women in rural areas had access to napkins as against 49.4 per cent in urban areas. The worrying factor that emerged out of the report was that more than half of the women population was unaware about period hygiene, as only 47.4 pc menstruating women used a hygienic method and 2.4 pc used tampons for protection. Cloth was most preferred for 65.5 pc adolescent girls and 72.7 pc young women.
The survey conducted by Mumbai-based International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS) stated that nearly 92 pc women who used cloth were illiterates and 87.3 pc were school drop-outs. Only, 12.3 pc women used locally prepared napkins.
Significantly, the survey revealed there was a culture of silence around the subject of period hygiene as people still considered menstruation ‘dirty and impure’ and a taboo to be discussed.
At the national level, the survey revealed that Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Goa, National Capital Region Delhi were far ahead from all other states with over 90 per cent of their young women population having access to sanitary napkins.
In Sikkim it was 86 per cent and in Punjab 84 per cent. In Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, two-third young women had access to hygienic methods. Only 30 per cent women in Bihar, 47 per cent in UP and 55 per cent in Bengal and Rajasthan had access to hygienic methods.
“Lack of affordability, accessibility and awareness were cited as the three prime reasons which deterred women from using hygienic protection”, said Prof Faujdar Ram, social scientist and former director of International Institute of Population Science, Mumbai.
In 2014, during a video conferencing, senior HRD Ministry officials had cited the example of Hemang Kerketa, a tribal girl from Koraput district of Odisha with good academic background dropping out of school, because of proper access to sanitary napkins at her school. The meeting had revealed that annually over 2.3 crore girls drop out because of the same reason. Very little has changed since then. The latest survey indicated that universal adaption and use of sanitary napkins still remained a far cry.
What Odisha and the rest of the country needs is ambassadors like Geetanjali Marndi who had represented the State at the ‘Niine Movement’s Menstrual Awareness Conclave’ in New Delhi last year as an inspiring change maker.
She studies in the residential school run by ST and SC Development department and has set an example for many other girls like her by breaking the myths and misconceptions associated with menstruation.
Speaking at the conclave, Geetanjali said Life Skills Education classes in her school helped her understand that menstruation was normal for girls and how wrong believes and unhealthy practices affect the self-esteem and dignity of girls. She said the provision of sanitary pads in schools along with the life skills education changed the way girls managed their menstruation.
