Lack of sanitary pads poses health risks to girls in North East Region

Some young girls who are engaged in hairdressing and hand weaving as apprentices in the West Mamprusi Municipality of the North East Region say they are compelled to use rags instead of sanitary pads due to financial difficulties.

According to the girls, the constant use of rags causes itching and swelling in their private parts areas.

In the past, women used rags as sanitary pads, but modernisation has led to the decline of this practice. However, due to poverty, some young women still use rags as sanitary pads today.

In July 2023, research conducted by the BBC found that a women in Ghana earning a minimum wage of US$26 a month would have to spend US$3, or one-seventh of their earnings, to purchase two packets of sanitary towels containing eight pads.

That means for every GHC80 they earn, they have to spend GHC11 on sanitary pads alone.

This year, a standard pack of sanitary pads costs between GHC20 and GHC40.

In an interview with Asaase News, one of the young girls, Saani Yatasu, said, “The cloth (the rag) can give you some diseases. It is itching the vagina and some people don’t use cotton they are using rubber. So the rubber ones can give you infections.”

Bukari Barichisu, a hand weaver in Walewale, said financial challenges have pushed the majority of them to resort to using rags as sanitary pads.

“Because of the financial crisis, that is why some people are always using the rag, but it is not their mind that they should use the rag, but because of the money. We are pleading with NGOs and the government to help us,” Barichisu said.

She added “We are all suffering about the pad. The rag is affecting us because some of us don’t know how to use it.”

Hamza Faiza added, “Some of our mothers told us that when we don’t have money we should use rag but when you use it, it affects us because it is not good. When you put it on you can’t even sit well.”

However, Participatory Action for Rural Development Alternatives (PARDA)- an indigenous non-profit organization in Ghana has supported young girls in Walewale by supplying them with sanitary pads. Additionally, the organization has educated the girls on the correct usage of the pads to prevent infections.

Reporting by Dokurugu Alhassan in the North East Region

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