The Community Aid for Rural Development (CARD Ghana), under its SheLeads project, has facilitated a colloquium of young girls and mentors aimed at promoting adolescent sexual and reproductive health (ASRH) and menstrual hygiene.
The colloquium, held on May 13, 2023, centrally discussed the rising costs of sanitary pads and the endangerments it poses on the SRH of adolescent girls.
Madam Leenat Abdul Rahman, Executive Director of CARD Ghana, told Info Radio in an interview that the increasing cost of sanitary goods has not only raised concerns among females but also sparked alarms among their male counterparts in recent days.
She recalled that the rumpus about the increasing cost dates back to 2018 when taxes on sanitary goods including pads were increased.
Miss Judith Leebon, a student of the Wa School for the Blind, said the high cost of sanitary pads posed greater health risks to young girls as they were unable to acquire the right quantity and quality of the pad needed for healthy use.
She added that it was affecting their well-being, personal dignity and confidence.
Presently, in the market, the prices of sanitary pads range from 15 to 45 Ghana cedis.
Addressing the adolescent girls at the meeting, Madam Charity Batuure, the Upper West Regional Director of the Department of Gender, intimated that the issue of the rising prices of sanitary was of great concern and that it formed part of the top agenda for her outfit at high-level stakeholder engagements.
She said stakeholders were considering finding a permanent solution to the problem by standardizing the price of particular reusable pads.
She noted that discussions were underway in coming out with such a sanitary good which would be available and affordable to all.
Other personalities who graced the occasion were: Madam Reyaanat Bin Salih, CEO of Healthway Foundation; and Hon Abdul Karim Toppie, Wa Municipal Assembly Presiding Member.