Health
What Menstrual Health Means to Nigerian Girls from Low-Income Families in 2024
By Margaret Aladeselu, Nguvu Collective Change Leader
Period poverty affects many girls and women from low-income families in Nigeria. While economic challenges often take precedence over social issues, the silent struggle of period poverty remains largely unacknowledged. In fact, many people are not even aware of what period poverty is. Simply put, it refers to the inability of menstruators to afford sanitary products, which impedes their ability to manage their menstrual health with dignity and ease.
Period poverty affects millions of girls and women in Nigeria, particularly those from low-income and marginalised communities. In 2022, recognising the need for change, I took the initiative to launch a petition and lead a campaign on menstrual hygiene in Nigeria, urging tax exemption on sanitary products and access to indispensable menstrual hygiene provisions for every woman, with the aim of finding sustainable solutions for countless young women in Nigeria, who experience inadequate access to essential menstrual hygiene resources due to financial constraints. The potential impact of this campaign is significant: it would not only alleviate the financial burden on menstruators but also foster greater accessibility to sanitary pads and tampons for young girls and women across the nation.
The recent economic downturn has significantly worsened the alarming situation of individuals living in poverty. The rising costs of living, coupled with the depreciation of currency values, have rendered basic necessities, such as sanitary pads, increasingly unaffordable for many, resulting in a sharp increase in period poverty. As a result, the number of girls who can no longer afford sanitary products has likely doubled, making menstrual hygiene a luxury that many low-income families can no longer afford.
To address this issue, I co-founded Period Padi, an NGO dedicated to ending period poverty one girl at a time, and we organised an outreach program to provide free menstrual products to school girls from low-income families. Our goal is to reach at least 1,000 girls by the end of the year. During our first outreach program, we had the opportunity to speak with some of the girls and understand their perspectives on menstrual health. Unfortunately, their responses were not encouraging. Many of them expressed a sense of resignation, with some admitting to using rags or toilet paper in the absence of sanitary pads. The free pads we provided, although in small quantities, were a huge relief for them.
However, addressing period poverty goes beyond simply distributing free pads; it depends on policymakers taking action to prioritise the well-being of menstruators and removing taxes on sanitary products. Unfortunately, many people don’t realise how big of an issue this is for millions of girls in Nigeria. But for me, it’s personal. I see these girls struggling every day, with their families barely able to afford food, let alone menstrual products. It’s time we all recognise the urgency of this problem and work together to find solutions.
As we reflect on World Menstrual Health Day, let us not only acknowledge the stark realities of period poverty but also commit to concerted action. By prioritising menstrual health as a fundamental human right, we can catalyse transformative change and pave the way for a more equitable and dignified future for all Nigerian girls and women.
Health
Proposed GMO Mosquitoes: Africans Advised To Be Wary Of WHO
By Chinasa Obidi
Kenyan Dr Wahome Ngare, the founding Director of Mercy Health Services, Nairobi, Kenya, has advised Africans to be wary of the World Health Organisation, WHO’s proposed introduction of GMO mosquitoes into Africa to eradicate malaria, as well as the malaria vaccine which he says will be made compulsory.”
But malaria is a treatable disease which we have been using our herbal teas to treat, plus we are unaware of the risks such GMO mosquitoes would bring,” he said, calling on Africans to exercise caution in this regard.
He said that while the WHO has done a lot of good things for the continent, it has equally done things that have affected Africa and Africans negatively making him advice African countries to exercise caution.He expressed this warning while addressing Ugandan President, Yoweri Kaguta Museveni in a trending video.
He gave his reasons for sounding the warning this: “In 2014/2015, WHO brought tetanus eradication campaign in our country; a campaign to eradicate neonatal tetanus.
“The vaccine that was used is a different type of tetanus vaccine that is fertility regulating, where they take tetanus and a hormone called Human Chorionic Conadotropin, and when you inject a woman with that vaccine, she produces antibodies against that hormone and is therefore rendered sterile.
“So we are now seeing an increase in infertility cases amongst young couples who are certified okay when examined, but cannot get children, or couples who are losing three to five pregnancies before they are able to cary any pregnancy to term.
“We were able to expose this through a paper we published, and fortunately in 2017, WHO said Kenya is now free of neonatal tetanus and they left our country.”But they developed this vaccine in an over twenty year period of research from 1972 to 1992 and used that vaccine in South America and possibly many other African countries.
“Responding to this call, Benjamin Amodu, a professor of Phytho-medicine from the Triune Biblical University, USA, who has been at the forefront of advocating for the use of herbal medicine, said Nigerians and Indeed Africans should also evaluate and verify any treatment or vaccine that is given to them before going ahead to use them.
“I think this is a very common view all around . I think we can cooperate with the WHO in most of the things and we can also evaluate to see that is in line with our own aspiration as a country just like the Ugandan and Kenyan doctors did to their president.
“It is a welcome development. We should ensure that whatever is being brought upon us should be well evaluated to see and if there are needs for modification, they should be modified to the interest of who they are introducing the the programme to.
” Even their comment on malaria, I think the WHO should be more open. Irrespective of where whatever treatment or vaccine is coming from, so long as it meets the requirements should be accepted and adopted so we move forward.
“I therefore call on African leaders and people to exercise faith in our God given natural herbs , carry out extensive research and promote it because even diseases for which the cures have eluded modern medicine for decades are being effectively cured with the use of Traditional, Complimentary and Herbal Medicines, TCAM, without any side effects.”
It would be recalled that Prof Amodu’s malaria cure was evaluated by the United Nations and found to be more effective than chloroquine and palaudrine.
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