By James Nwakpa
As Ebonyians join other parts of the global community to observe this year's world menstrual hygiene day, the United States Agency for International Development, USAID has advocated for joint efforts in putting to an end menstrual stigmatization against the female folks.
This advocation was made in Abakaliki Local Government Council Headquarters, Nkaliki on Monday during a sensitization program organized by the coordinators of state-to-state USAID projects in Ebonyi State, which had in attendance representatives of students drawn from different secondary schools across the state.
Speaking on this year's theme tagged "WE ARE COMMITTED", a public health officer and guest speaker of the program, Mrs Odoh Eunice, addressed the need for the women and the teenagers to ensure self menstrual hygiene and effective disposal of the waste pads to promote good health and environmental cleanliness.
She attributed some of the reasons for poor menstrual hygiene in the society to include illiteracy, lack of parental care, poverty and lack of proper implementation of public health policies, adding that some cultural issues also help in aggravating the situation, as they contribute to period stigma against the women and the teenagers of reproductive age.
In his remarks, the Program Manager for widows and orphans empowerment organization, implementing the USAID state-to-state projects in Ebonyi State, Mr Emmanuel Adiele and the Officer in charge of monitoring and evaluation of the agency, in Ebonyi State, Mr Nebo Franklin said that the essence of the program was to increase the level of knowledge and awareness about menstrual issues and to also promote good health in the society, and called on the government, other non-governmental organizations, the parents and the general public to show commitment in achieving this noble goal.
They expressed optimism that if the parents and guardians should engage their wards in early childhood training on menstruation and other puberty related issues, it would help in solving the problem of poor knowledge of the subject matter when the children grow up; and that if the male counterparts are also involved in that same orientation, that it would also help in solving the problem of the stigma associated with menstrual issues.
Also speaking, some of the school teachers who participated in the program, including Mr Ogbaranya Stephen from Folk Technical College Ikwo, in Ikwo L.G.A and Mrs Ekpe Ogonnaya from Ezza High School Amuzu, in Ezra South Local Government Area, in similar voices, observed that most of the schools lack modern sanitary facilities, and as such, most of the female students usually absent themselves from school during their menstrual periods, which normally affect their academic performance.
They called on the government and private individuals, especially facilitators of schools to provide separate water system toilets for the comfortability of both the male and the female students, to help in solving the problem of absenteeism among the female students of menstrual age who need private places for disposal of waste pads during their menstruation periods, thereby promoting academic excellence among the students.
In an interview, Miss Friday Blessing from Nnodo Secondary School Abakaliki and Miss Ikechukwu Ruth from Folk Technical College, Ikwo, expressed happiness that the sensitization exercise has helped in widening their horizon about menstrual hygiene and other health-related matters, and promised to effectively utilize what they have learnt and to share their knowledge with others while requesting that such laudable programs be sustained for the benefit of all.
All the participants went home with sanitary pads after the sensitization exercise.
