Investment and action in menstrual hygiene and health necessary: Speakers

On the occasion of International Menstrual Hygiene Day, an online discussion titled 'Women's Health and Social Thought' was jointly organized by Sahasi Kanya and Duranta Foundation on Friday morning for public awareness. Ananya 18 Prabha-Jagannath University branch was in special collaboration with this event.

The event was hosted by Reneka Ahmed Antu, Team Leader and Project Manager of 'Empowering the Brave Girls'. Dr. Sahla Mahzabin, Assistant Professor, Department of Surgery, Dr. Sirajul Islam Khan Medical College, and SRHR Author, Nuzhat Jahan Khan, Red Orange Media and Communication were the guest. The ninety-minute-long discussion meeting has been broadcasted live on Facebook via Zoom. Discussions were arranged for the audience to consult the doctor directly through comments and text messages on the organizers FB page.

At the beginning of the program, host Reneka introduced the guests and wanted to know more about the importance of menstrual well-being. The first speaker Dr. Sahla Mahzabin first expressed solidarity with the theme of International Menstrual Hygiene Day 2021 'more action and investment in menstrual hygiene and health now' and said to be more aware of cleanliness and health.

She gave a presentation on why menstrual health is important and the various state and global policies and commitments. She discussed the need and method of proper disinfection of sanitary pads. She also discussed about the connection of menstrual health and mental health in detail.

Later, the second speaker Nuzhat Jahan Khan spoke about the gender inequality of women in society and the various taboos of the society on menstrual uncleanliness. In her speech, she called not being able to talk openly about menstruation is in itself a big stigma. In addition she highlighted school-college, insufficiency of sanitary pads in the workplace is a social stigma as well. She also expressed her believe in the power of togetherness to mitigate all kinds of stigmas regarding menstruation.

She deliberately asked support from young entrepreneurs to introduce affordable, low-cost sanitary pads to ensure pads within the purchasing power of all kinds of earning person.In the end, the moderator and guests concluded the discussion by expressing their hope to build a society free from superstitions in people from all walks of life and build safer society in the presence of all gender.