Menstrual hygiene in Ugandan schools: An investigation of low-cost sanitary pads
Open accessAbstract
Menstrual hygiene management (MHM) is a largely overlooked issue in the water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) sector. Every day, millions of menstruating girls and women in low-income countries struggle to find clean water for washing, private places for changing and adequate blood absorbing materials. This study aims to explore the difficulties experienced by schoolgirls in Uganda in managing menstrual hygiene and investigates the extent to which low-cost sanitary pads are part of the solution. Low-cost sanitary pads, either re-usable or disposable, are a timely, simple and innovative means of improving menstrual hygiene and of addressing a broader set of problems related to MHM in schools. Other factors highlighted are: pain relief, education, safe water provision, clean and private latrines, hygienic and secure bathing facilities, use of soap, sealed waste disposal points, private drying places, anal cleansing materials and effective facility operation and management strategies.
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Girls lack hygienic sanitary products and sometimes underwear.
“Studies have shown girls lack water, soap, privacy, and space to change [19]; adequate time to manage their menses comfortably, safely, and with dignity [20–22]; and hygienic sanitary products and sometimes underwear [7,23,24].”
From A Time for Global Action: Addressing Girls’ Menstrual Hygiene Management Needs in Schools (2016) · cites this paper as [24]
The disposal of old cloths and pads in bodies of water, the jungle, the mud, or the latrine is consistent with other studies of rural women in India.
“consistent with other studies of rural women in India [8, 63, 64].”
From ’It’s like a burden on the head’: Redefining adequate menstrual hygiene management throughout women’s varied life stages in Odisha, India. (2019) · cites this paper as [64]
Girls may not have adequate facilities at school such as safe, private, and clean toilets equipped with functional door locks, water for personal hygiene, or disposal facilities.
“They may not have adequate facilities at school such as safe, private, and clean toilets equipped with functional door locks, water for personal hygiene, or disposal facilities [5, 6, 10–12].”
From Physical, social, and political inequities constraining girls’ menstrual management at schools in informal settlements of Nairobi, Kenya. (2017) · cites this paper as [12]
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A systematic review of the health and social effects of menstrual hygiene management
Sumpter, C., & Torondel, B. (2013) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0062004 · Cited by 518 · see citing works
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“[16–18] Commercial absorbents are frequently unavailable or too expensive.[2,16,17,19,20] The provision of clean sanitary products (e.”
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“The methods of managing menstruation seen in this peri-urban secondary school population differed from that in rural Uganda [24, 25], where most students reported primarily using re-usable pads, for example Afripads and Makapads which are Ugandan-made, low-cost pads sold or given directly to schoolgirls by nongovernme…”
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- Authors
- Crofts, T., & Fisher, J.
- Affiliations
- Freelance Consultant
- Loughborough University (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Fisher, Julie
- Venue
- Journal of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene for Development
- Publisher
- IWA Publishing
- Published
- 2012-03-01
- Volume
- 2
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 50-58
- ISSN
- 2043-9083 (ISSN-L)
- 2408-9362
- OpenAlex
- W2093992409
- Cited by
- 108
- References
- 5
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 10 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 11 · 2021: 9 · 2020: 7 · 2019: 12 · 2018: 10 · 2017: 11 · 2016: 6 · 2015: 6 · 2014: 5 · 2013: 5 · 2012: 1
- FWCI
- 5.26
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- dspace.lboro.ac.uk
- Licence
- cc-by-nc-nd
- Locations
- Journal of Water Sanitation and Hygiene for Development (publishedVersion)
- Loughborough University Institutional Repository (Loughborough University) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- Loughborough University Research Repository (Loughborough University) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Menstrual Health and Disorders
- Social Sciences › Gender Studies › Gender Studies and Social Issues
- Health Sciences › Nursing › Nutrition and Dietetics › Child Nutrition and Water Access
- Keywords
- menstrual hygiene management, female students, menstrual health, school sanitation facilities, waste disposal, Uganda
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