Call for healthcare leaders to ensure women and girls have access to
safe and affordable menstrual products and health

Date:
August 26, 2021
Source:
Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health
Summary:
A new commentary reinforces the need to engage the public in
understanding the importance of menstrual health. This includes
sufficient funding and more research to educate young people,
their parents and communities about the process of menstruation,
along with the clinicians who serve them.



FULL STORY ==========================================================================
With evidence estimating that nearly one-fourth of the world's women
and girls face challenges related to menstrual management -- including
stigma, privacy, and access to affordable materials -- a commentary
in JAMAreinforces the need to engage the public in understanding the
importance of menstrual health. This includes sufficient funding and more research to educate young people, their parents and communities about
the process of menstruation, along with the clinicians who serve them.


==========================================================================
"A culture of silence around the issues of menstruation needs to be
broken," said Marni Sommer, DrPH, MSN, RN, associate professor of
sociomedical sciences at Columbia University Mailman School of Public
Health. "Menstrual equity is a human rights and public health issue,
with racial, socioeconomic, and sex disparities intertwined," said
co-author Diana J. Mason, PhD, RN, senior policy service professor at
the Center for Health Policy and Media Engagement, George Washington
University School of Nursing.

Evidence from low as well as high resource countries shows that
significant menstruation-related challenges are faced by schoolgirls,
displaced adolescent girls and women, as well as women in the workplace,
and many of these disparities intensified during the pandemic. Additional
data highlight how those affected by homelessness face issues that go
beyond access to products, and how they encounter barriers to manage
their periods with dignity.

"At a minimum, access to free menstrual products in all public spaces
is needed, as Scotland has done. In addition, attention is essential
to assure all people with periods have access to safe, private spaces
with water and soap for changing their menstrual products in comfort,"
noted Sommer.

To promote menstrual equity Sommer and Mason make the following points:
* Policy makers in the U.S. should eliminate state sales taxes
on menstrual
products.

* High-quality menstrual products should be available for free
in schools,
prisons, homeless shelters, and health care facilities.

* Health professionals should advocate for free access to menstrual
products.

* The U.S. should open the door for coverage of menstrual products
under
Medicaid and propose increasing the monthly benefit for adolescent
girls and women of childbearing age under The Temporary Assistance
for Needy Families.

* We need to underscore the relevance of menstrual health and
hygiene to
all UN 17 Sustainable Development Goals.

"Women, adolescent girls, and all people with periods in the U.S. and
around the world must be able to manage their periods with dignity and
comfort, without stigma or shame," said Mason.

========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by Columbia_University's_Mailman_School_of_Public_Health.

Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Marni Sommer, Diana J. Mason. Period Poverty and Promoting Menstrual
Equity. JAMA Health Forum, 2021; 2 (8): e213089 DOI: 10.1001/
jamahealthforum.2021.3089 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/08/210825143037.htm

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