Dear Editor,
I note recently that First Lady Arya Ali’s brainchild, the “Menstrual Hygiene Initiative,” is gathering momentum and rightly so. The news outlets have it that she is lobbying for support to increase access to menstrual hygiene products. Her mission is that there be ‘easy’ access for every girl to have the basic necessities to cater for menstrual hygiene, since her basic biology means that she will be ‘inconvenienced’ for quite a while, even though intermittently. So, on this note, I have a few important facts to relay, all of which will highlight the importance of Lady Arya’s ‘brainchild.’
Some facts that can be checked are as follows, and these should enlighten us in the sense of making us alert and responsive.
First, from the time of her first cycle to menopause, the average woman will have around 450-500 ‘periods’ in her lifetime. Cumulatively, this equates to over 10 years, or about more than 3,500 days. Put in another way, the median number of lifetime menstrual cycles will correspond to duration of 34-35 years of menstrual activity, on a monthly routine, or say an average of 13 cycles per year. This is serious, and sometimes so ‘far-removed’ from males and generally the uneducated, that no one even pays attention to the phenomenon.
Secondly, “The average period usually lasts between three and seven days, with the average bleeding shedding between 360ml to 720ml of blood, so that over a lifetime, the figure racks up to between 14 and a whopping 28 litres.
Now that’s a lot of blood. So, Ms. Ali is right, as she still has a lot of work ahead of her, since she wants to broaden its (the programme) reach to include vulnerable women.
Editor, and Ms. Arya, as I know you are aware, you are not all alone in this quest. It is quite heartening to know that UNICEF is a global leader in menstrual health and hygiene activities through development and humanitarian programmes across the world. The goal of UNICEF is that “We are committed to building programmes that increase confidence, knowledge, and skills – and to improve access to materials and facilities – for adolescent girls, women, transgender and non-binary individuals to manage their menstruation safely and with dignity.”
Overall, UNICEF will focus in four key areas for improved menstrual health and hygiene: Social support, Knowledge and skills, Facilities and services, and Access to absorbent materials and supportive supplies. UNICEF will also primarily support governments in building national strategies across sectors, like health and education, that account for menstrual health and hygiene.
The details from the First Lady are that “… millions of girls in the Caribbean lack access to the resources and facilities needed to control their menstrual cycle in a way that respects their privacy, dignity, and safety, and that some of them “don’t know” what menstruation is or how to handle it in a hygienic way.”
I alluded to these factors already, and I hope the population will increase in knowledge and improve its response, and hence a greater positive impact will be engendered in alleviating this ‘removable’ situation. The earlier more come on board, the quicker Guyana can realise becoming the first nation in the Caribbean and Latin America to give menstrual hygiene products to its women and girls at no cost. Indeed, like the First Lady declared, “This would be a remarkable achievement for our country and by extension our region.”
The signs are there too as “In an effort to eradicate period poverty in Guyana, the Office of the First Lady started the Menstrual Hygiene Initiative in September 2021 … (and since then) … every year, over 32,000 schoolgirls have received free sanitary pads thanks to this initiative.”
I suggest we all make a big effort as Menstrual Hygiene Day is upcoming. It’s on 28 May, and the objectives are about “Breaking the taboos and ending the stigma surrounding menstruation, “Raising awareness about the challenges regarding access to menstrual products”, “Educating people about menstruation and period-friendly sanitation facilities, and “Mobilising the funding required for necessary action.”
Yours truly,
HB Singh
