Amidst the nationwide economic crisis, a number of secondary school students in Ibadan have voiced their discontent at the rising cost of sanitary pads, which they are unable to purchase.
In a recent survey in Ibadan, some revealed that they had turned to using tissues and garments instead of sanitary pads due to price increases.
Adekunle Ifeoluwa, an SS1 student, was one of the responders who stated she was unable to purchase sanitary pads due to the sudden increase in price from ₦600 to ₦1000. “Occasionally, when I begged my mother for the money to buy sanitary pads, she would instruct me to go get it from her customer on credit. Additionally, some of my acquaintances don’t use sanitary pads and instead use alternatives.”
Sonia Alexander, an SS3 student, also stated that the cost of sanitary pads is exorbitant, “it was 400 when I first started, but it is already about 1,000. In instances where I lack the funds to purchase pads, I have substituted tissues and tiny wrappers.”
Adefeyi Omolola also complained the increase in the cost of sanitary pads from ₦1200, but now it costs ₦1500.
“We need to use it, thus our only choice is to purchase it.”
They urge the government to at least reduce the price or distribute the sanitary pads to schools and make it free of charge for teenagers
According to Dr. Toluwase Olufadewa, Senior Partnership Officer at Slum and Rural Health Initiative and Lead of the One Health Team, the organization is developing an intervention that will teach secondary school students how to create reusable sanitary pads.
She also pushed for schoolgirls to be more conscious of menstruation health and hygiene.
“Sanitary pads are not only exceedingly costly, but they also pollute the environment. As a result, we have initiated a second line of intervention in which we are instructing kids in secondary schools on how to manufacture reusable sanitary pads rather than ones that take years to degrade. These pads take price, reusability, and eco-friendliness into consideration.”
“The government can enact policy that will instruct secondary school pupils on how to create and use reusable sanitary pads as well as the manufacturers should consider how to make them both inexpensive and environmentally beneficial inorder for the majority of people to afford sanitary pads.”
