Menstrual Hygiene :Stakeholders call for tax exemptions on sanitary products

As the world commemorates Menstrual Hygiene Day, stakeholders in the advancement of the rights of girls are calling for tax exemptions on menstrual hygiene materials.
This, they believe would help address the menstrual hygiene challenges faced by young girls.
Their appeal came to the fore at a virtual commemoration of Menstrual Hygiene Day 2020 organized by the Ministry of Education and its partners. The theme for this year’s celebration, “It’s Time for Action” called on stakeholders to act to support menstrual hygiene management by ensuring girls have access to information, clean toilets, play and work effectively at any time of the month.
The WASH Officer at UNICEF Emma-Joan Halm in her address, urged the government to ensure that menstrual hygiene materials such as sanitary pads and tampons are available, affordable and locally produced. She also called for the reduction if not the removal of the 20% import tax on menstrual hygiene materials as it makes sanitary pads too expensive.
Emma-Joan Halm said UNICEF believes that menstruation should be seen as an amazing period and not a period where girls miss out on the opportunities to stay in school.
She said, “In this time, I would like to ask that sanitary products are included in COVID-19 intervention packages for vulnerable women and girls in our societies.”
The chairperson of Coalition of NGOs in Water and Sanitation (CONIWAS), Martin Dery, in his submission called for tax exemptions on local production of sanitary pads. According to him, CONIWAS continues to support girls from vulnerable households to access menstrual hygiene materials but the onus lies on government to make sanitary pads affordable to all.
The Deputy Director, Environmental Health and Sanitation Directorate of the Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources, Kweku Quansah advocated that menstrual hygiene education should be deepened in the informal sector as close to 4% of school going children are not in school.
The Programmes Manager, Adolescent Reproductive Health, Ghana Health Service, Gifty Ben- Aryee pledged the Ministry of Health’s commitment to addressing the existing gaps in promoting Menstrual Hygiene among girls. She called for the recognition of each week as menstrual hygiene week as every week does not go by without a girl menstruating.
 
Atinkaonline.com| Regina Asamoah| [email protected]