AFP/Yahoo! News Profiles UNICEF, Indian NGO's Efforts To Make Sanitary Pads Available To Women

Main Category: Women's Health / Gynecology
Article Date: 11 Oct 2007 - 8:00 PDT

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AFP/Yahoo! News on Monday profiled UNICEF and the Delhi-based nongovernmental organization Goonj's efforts to make clean, affordable sanitary pads available to women who are menstruating in India. Many Indian women cannot afford sanitary pads, which cost about 60 rupees, or $1.50, for a package of eight and instead use scraps of old cloth, which increases the risk of infection, AFP/Yahoo! News reports.

According to some development workers, the lack of affordable, clean sanitary pads is affecting the health and education of Indian women. UNICEF has found that a combination of a lack of toilets in schools, the onset of monthly periods and a lack of sanitary pads has caused some girls to drop out of school.

UNICEF and Goonj, with the support of officials in the Indian state Tamil Nadu, recently began working with women's village committees to help the committees help purchase machines to make sterile, disposable sanitary pads. The sanitary pads are sold for two or three rupees, about 5 cents to 7 cents, for a package of six and are available at no cost for those who cannot afford them. About 600 women in the village Rupaspur have begun using the pads, according to AFP/Yahoo! News.

Anshu Gupta, head of Goonj, said that the group is not "looking to become a manufacturer of sanitary" pads, adding that Goonj wants to "start a movement" to empower women to make the pads and to educate them about "drying cloths in sunlight and changing more frequently" (AFP/Yahoo! News, 10/8).

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