While the whole world shakes in uncertainty due to the pandemic, the hygiene of female healthcare workers remains in a detrimental situation. Access to menstrual hygiene supplies or being able to change them can be challenging for healthcare workers while treating COVID-19 patients in Bangladesh.

Adolescent girls are spontaneously talking about menstrual cycles and its hygiene management as they show each other a sanitary napkin box inside of a classroom of Bahadurpur Model Academy School. Banglabazar- Gazipur, Bangladesh. April 17, 2019.

Focusing on menstrual care in time of this deadly pandemic is even more important now, as it has heavily impacted on doctors, nurses and caregivers who are providing direct frontline care to infected patients. The frontline workers are using sanitary napkins for 18 hours at a stretch and they are finding it difficult to remove protective suits and changing menstrual materials in between their shifts.

Shortages of sanitary products and inadequate toilet facilities in hospitals have restricted the movements of health care workers as well. This leads to anxiety and heavy stress on the frontline workers as they are also denied access to basic hygiene facilities.

On 28 May 2020, Global Menstrual Hygiene Day marks upon the theme ‘Periods in Pandemic’. The theme underlines the challenges faced by women during menstruation in the ongoing crisis.

Hasin Jahan, Country Director, WaterAid

Hasin Jahan, Country Director at WaterAid Bangladesh is working to ensure access to Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) facilities for the marginalised communities of the country. As a development practitioner, Jahan has been working at policy level as well as in the education sector to raise awareness on handwashing with soap and proper sanitation facilities to the vulnerable groups. In her 25 years of experience in the WASH sector, Jahan has been actively engaged with issues related to women’s health and rights.

Marking Global Menstrual Hygiene Day, Dhaka Tribune discusses key challenges and way forward with Jahan on women’s health and hygiene in light of Bangladesh’s context.

WaterAid Bangladesh has undertaken hygiene projects to save people from threat of the fatal coronavirus. WaterAid believes access to menstrual hygiene products for healthcare workers is as essential as face masks and gloves during this dire situation.

The pandemic has caused a financial dilemma for low-income healthcare workers and it is compelling them to compromise their personal hygiene in hospitals. It is needless to say that these healthcare workers need to maintain their physical and mental wellbeing during this crucial time, but they are constantly seen to deprive themselves of the necessity.

It should be ensured that healthcare workers are provided with menstrual hygiene products so they do not feel discomfort in performing their duties during the crisis.

Also, the increasing economic uncertainty going around the society leads to adolescent girls in marginalised communities to face a bigger hurdle when menstruating in the ongoing pandemic. We believe that it is important that the government must include sanitary napkins and soaps in the relief supplies and consider these as essential products for a woman’s wellbeing during emergencies.

Menstrual Hygiene Management (MHM) should not only be an issue for girls in society solely, but it should also encompass everyone. Education at the family level and schools play a vital role to remove the stigma surrounding menstruation. MHM should not be hidden from boys in family, and textbook lessons on MHM should be taught extensively to girls in schools. We know that in schools, lessons on MHM are not explained elaborately as teachers believe that it is associated with shame and stigma.

According to the Bangladesh National Hygiene Baseline Survey 2018, about 53 percent of students knew or heard about menstruation before they started to menstruate. It is true that talking about menstruation is more open to people now than times before but it is not enough to overcome the disparity.

Girls should not be hesitant to tell their teachers for a leave due to periods, as female students are more likely to take leave from schools giving the excuse of some other illness. If people start to take this matter seriously, we can fill in the gaps with concrete bridges.

Many MHM platforms are working on campaigns to raise awareness of educating girls on menstrual hygiene. However, there is no concerned ministry or department to tackle this serious issue. If there is a ministry or department to be accountable for issues related to MHM facilities, there will be a comprehensive change throughout the nation.

The private sector and volunteers and activists should come forward to create social awareness about maintaining menstrual hygiene. We believe only collaboration can solve the struggle of most girls in the country.

In addition, certain budgets need to be allocated in research and campaigns on MHM. We need to carry out research and development to produce better-quality and low-cost sanitary products. Biodegradable sanitary napkins have been already taken under consideration as it is an environment-friendly product, however, the cost and availability of raw materials associated with its production are uncertain. In the process, we should also keep disabled women’s needs in mind and create separate products for them.

To keep up the overall progress of menstrual hygiene, we need a better jumpstart which is access to sanitary napkins. In most rural areas, improved hygiene products are still considered to be luxury products rather than essentials, which ultimately leads to an unaffordable price. To fix this, VAT and TAX need to be repealed completely from sanitary products. If we want girls of our nation to accomplish and prosper, the least we must do is to start working on basic groundwork for eliminating discrimination on the basis that they have periods and they would need to pay tax to access improved hygiene products.

– Country Director, WaterAid Bangladesh