Menstrual health for all requires wider high level commitment

Martin, Jennifer; Babbar, Karan; Maschette, Ursula

doi:10.1136/bmj.o2222

Cited by 6 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 10 publications

(13 reference statements)

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“…This was compounded by a more than 50% fall in sanitary pad distribution as part of the MHS scheme due to the COVID-19 lockdown in 83 districts, across 11 states of India [ 10 ]. This evidence suggests that a mere focus on promoting use of disposable pads is not enough to tackle period poverty, which requires a wider level of commitment from government and policymakers, including ensuring the availability of a range of affordable and accessible period products [ 11 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

What socio-demographic factors support disposable vs. sustainable menstrual choices? Evidence from India’s National Family Health Survey-5

Babbar,

Garikipati

2023

PLoS ONE

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For over a decade, improving menstrual hygiene among poor girls and women in low-and-middle-income-countries has been a prominent global goal. Towards this, governments in the Global South have worked to promote the uptake of disposable sanitary pads. Despite this, we continue to see a high prevalence of period poverty mainly because disposable pads require monthly purchasing that may be burdensome for many women. Not only are pads financially unsustainable but also represent a heavy environmental burden which has kindled an interest in re-usable innovations like menstrual cups that present a sustainable solution. However, there is little understanding of factors that promote the take-up of disposable vs. sustainable products at population levels. In this paper, we draw on India’s National Family Health Survey-5 to understand the socio-demographic determinants of period product usage among girls and women, differentiated by their sustainability quotient. Our findings suggest that awareness of sustainable products and cultural factors are the key driver to promote their use. Women with exposure to menstrual cups either via education or mass media were more likely to use them. Belonging to urban areas and to disadvantaged social categories are other driving factors, at least partly because taboos of vaginal insertion are less of a concern among these groups. These findings suggest that improving the uptake of menstrual cups requires a paradigm shift in menstrual health policies from the promotion of disposable pads alone to spreading awareness of sustainable period choices among women via innovative use of mass media and community networks. Some micro-level evidence of change supports our conclusions.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

What socio-demographic factors support disposable vs. sustainable menstrual choices? Evidence from India’s National Family Health Survey-5

Babbar,

Garikipati

2023

PLoS ONE

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“…Inclusivity starts with language. 5 , 6 A common term used in academia to account for adolescent girls, women, transgender men, non-binary and agender people, and other gender minorities who menstruate is ‘menstruators.’ Therefore, we suggest using the term women, adolescent girls and people who menstruate. This term was first coined to support the inclusion of all women, adolescent girls, and people who menstruate, but instead reduced them to their bodily functions and body parts.…”

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confidence: 99%

Inclusion means everyone: standing up for transgender and non-binary individuals who menstruate worldwide

Babbar

Martin²,

Varanasi

et al. 2023

The Lancet Regional Health - Southeast Asia

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Decomposing the rural–urban gap in hygienic material use during menstruation among adolescent women in India

Chakrabarty,

Singh,

Let

et al. 2023

Sci Rep

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The use of hygienic materials (sanitary napkins, locally prepared napkins, tampons, and menstrual cups) during menstruation among adolescent women in India has improved over the years, yet a significant rural–urban gap in the usage persists at the national level. This study investigates how this rural-urabn gap varies across different states and union territories (UTs) of India and uses Fairlie decomposition to quantify the contribution of various factors to this gap. The study uses data on 114,805 adolescent women (aged 15–19 years) from the fifith round of National Family Health Survey (2019–21). The utilization of hygienic materials during menstruation among adolescent women in rural India stood at 43%, whereas in urban areas, it was 68%, indicating a significant 25 percentage point (pp) difference between the two. The rural–urban gap in the hygienic material use varied significantly across Indian states and UTs. The gap exceeded 20 pp in Madhya Pradesh (36 pp), Odisha (26 pp), Jammu and Kashmir (25 pp), Assam (25 pp), Uttar Pradesh (23 pp), Jharkhand (22 pp), Chhattisgarh (21 pp), and Rajasthan (21 pp). In contrast, the gap in Tamil Nadu, Himachal Pradesh, and Telangana was less than 10 pp. The decomposition analysis of the rural–urban gap (25 pp) revealed that the variables included in the anlaysis explained about 70% of the gap. The difference in the household wealth between rural and urban areas contributed about 69% of the explained gap. Other significant contributors to the explained gap were ‘transportation to health facility’ (5.6%), ‘mass-media exposure’ (4.9%), and ‘level of education (4.4%). The findings underscore the necessity for state-specific interventions aimed at vulnerable groups, particularly individuals from economically disadvantaged backgrounds, those with lower levels of education, and limited exposure to mass media, in order to reduce the existing rural–urban disparity in hygienic material use among adolescent women.

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Menstrual health for all requires wider high level commitment

Cited by 6 publications

References 10 publications

What socio-demographic factors support disposable vs. sustainable menstrual choices? Evidence from India’s National Family Health Survey-5

What socio-demographic factors support disposable vs. sustainable menstrual choices? Evidence from India’s National Family Health Survey-5

Inclusion means everyone: standing up for transgender and non-binary individuals who menstruate worldwide

Decomposing the rural–urban gap in hygienic material use during menstruation among adolescent women in India

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