New Telegraph

NRHJN sensitises 100 school girls on menstrual hygiene

Network of Reproductive Health Journalists of Nigeria (NRHJN ) Lagos State Chapter has commemorated the Menstrual Hygiene Day (MHD) with about 100 students of Iju Senior Grammar School Obawole, Lagos State where the network engaged them on public education in making menstruation a normal way of life. During the event which held recently, the students were also empowered on strategies to ensure they lived normal lives during their menstruation period while debunking the myths, stereotypes and stigma associated with menstruation.

In her opening remarks, the Coordinator, NRHJN, Lagos State Chapter, Ms Kikelomo Oduyebo urged governments and the private sector to subsidise the price of sanitary pad to make it affordable for girls especially those from vulnerable, the poor from low income homes and communities. Oduyebo said the MHD programme was the second edition of the NRHJN Lagos State Chapter public health education programme in bridging the communication gap on sexual and reproductive health issues for adolescent girls. In her presentation on ‘How Right Sanitary Pads Enhances Good Menstrual Health,’ the convener of Sanitary Pads Media Campaign, (SPMC) Ms Anike-ade Funke Treasure said she was happy to be part of the special day to commemorate the MHD 2022 as it signals the first flagg off of the distribution of re-usable pads by SPMC in it’s promotion of menstrual hygiene and fight against period poverty.

In her speech which was delivered by Ms Julie Ekong, a director of News, Radio Nigeria, the convener of SPMC identified consistent supply of good sanitary pads as a way of enhancing good menstrual health and promoting period dignity. The programme is aimed to achieve SDGs 1, 3, 4 and 5 on zero period poverty, good health and wellbeing, quality education and gender equality for school girls as well as end stereotypes, stigma and taboos associated with menstration. On her part, the Coordinator, Adolescent Health Unit at the Lagos State Ministry of Health (LSMoH), Dr, Yeside Shogbamimu, a consultant physician, who spoke on ‘Menstrual Hygiene as Gateway to Total Health’ urged the students to see their monthly cycle as part of their biological process and not something to be ashamed of. In addition, Dr. Adeola Obasanya, the Adolescent Health Officer of Lagos State Primary Healthcare Board, in a presentation on ‘Why Adolescent Girls Need Support System at Home, School and the Society During Menstration’ encouraged the students to always talk to their parents, school counsels anytime they need support during their menustration especially if it’s a painful process.

She urged them to always change their sanitary pads every six hours to avoid germs and infections which can develop due to poor hygiene during their menustration. Dr. Keziah Awosika, the executive director of women,law and development center, Nigeria and chairman of the occasion called on government and every school to make water available in school public toilets and good hygiene practices among the students at all times. Highpoints of the event was the distribution of free reusable sanitary pads to about 100 students by the NRHJN through a donation from Sanitary Pads Media Campaign (SPMC).

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