A U.S.-based non-governmental organisation (NGO), African Immigrants Resources Centre, on Thursday, distributed sanitary pads to 1,578 students in Imo to celebrate this year’s World Menstrual Hygiene Day.

The pads were given to 1,213 students of Casita Maria Secondary School and 365 students of Comprehensive Secondary School, both in Emekuku, near Owerri.

The gesture was part of the NGO’s ‘Give A Girl A Pad’ (GAGAP) initiative and undertaken to commemorate the global event, which highlights the importance of good menstrual hygiene management.

Addressing the beneficiaries, the GAGAP convener, Chimezie Oji-Kalu, said the initiative was part of the organisation’s efforts “to end period stigma and also highlight the crucial role of menstrual health in achieving girl child education and overall development”.

Ms Oji-Kalu, represented by the GAGAP coordinator in Imo, Winifred Ijeaku, said that the initiative includes more than a mere distribution of sanitary pads.

She said it was designed to equally help girls and young women avoid the mistakes of the past in menstrual hygiene and its attendant consequences, such as the spread of diseases and low self-esteem resulting from poor hygiene.

“As we mark the year 2026 World Menstrual Hygiene Day, we remain focused on eliminating period poverty and providing good hygiene to the girl child before, during and after menstrual flow.

“We advise that to maintain good health, a girl should have a proper full-body bath at least twice every day while insisting on quality sanitary pads rather than any other materials,” Ms Oji-Kalu said.

She further advised the students to always confide in their mothers about menstrual issues rather than friends or neighbours, to preserve their self-esteem.

She also advised them not to wear the same pants for prolonged periods but change as often as they bath, and insist on sun drying their underwear so as to reduce the risk of infection and restore their confidence.

Highlight of the exercise were the practical demonstrations deployed to teach the students the advantages of using sanitary pads as against random materials.

The World Menstrual Hygiene Day was initiated by a German-based NGO, known as WASH United, in 2013 and was observed for the first time in 2014. 

(NAN)