Sunyani: A Public Health Nurse has urged families to provide their girls with menstrual hygiene products. Madam Lucy Sanyenu, a nurse at the Sunyani West Municipal Directorate of Health, also urged parents to draw closer to their girls, know their challenges, and provide them with basic reproductive health needs.
According to Ghana News Agency, Madam Sanyenu was speaking at a forum held at Fiapre in the Sunyani West Municipality to mark the 2025 celebration of the Menstrual Hygiene Day. The event was jointly organised by Action Aid Ghana (AAG) and the Sunyani branch of the Young Urban Women's Movement (YUWM). Attended by school girls and stakeholders, the forum aimed to intensify awareness on menstrual hygiene and discuss critical issues related to Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) provision in basic schools.
Madam Sanyenu expressed concern that because some families failed to provide their girls with menstrual hygiene products, some men exploit girls sexually under the pretext of supporting them with those products. She advised women and girls to maintain good menstrual hygiene by changing their pads and bathing regularly. It is essential for girls to understand menstrual hygiene and manage themselves during menstruation to protect against infections, she emphasized.
She highlighted the importance of empowering girls to feel confident and comfortable during menstruation, urging them to balance their diets and avoid unhealthy lifestyles, recommending increased water intake, especially during menstruation. Madam Sanyenu called for collective efforts in promoting menstrual health and hygiene to create a healthier environment for girls, enhancing their self-confidence.
Mr. Yaw Osei Boateng, the Bono Regional Programme Officer of AAG, called for intensified education on menstrual health to dispel societal myths and misconceptions about menstruation. He urged schools to provide bins for menstrual waste, noting that menstruation significantly contributes to girls' absenteeism in schools. Mr. Boateng stressed AAG's commitment to scaling up menstrual health education and providing WASH facilities in schools.
He mentioned that AAG had constructed several mechanised boreholes, child-friendly Kindergarten schools, and toilet facilities in some communities in the Tain and Asutifi districts. He urged the government to prioritise menstrual hygiene among girls.