More than 60% of women contract infections during their menstrual periods, Eagle Online has learnt. The revelation was made by Dr. Enock Cedikol, the person in charge of Family Medical Point.
The contraction of infections such as UTIs is alluded to an unsafe or poor hygienic menstrual period where 80% of the ladies have no access to a sanitary pad. They reportedly end up folding clothes and other materials, which have exposed them to UTIs and other infections.
“Some girls use unclean towels and clothes during menstruation. So, it’s always good to always wash your hands before and after using the pads and strictly use the pads to up the hygiene during menstruation,” he said during the commemoration of Menstrual Hygiene Day at Entebbe Girls’ School Kigungu.
Dr. Cedikol said most of them cannot access expensive medication; they end up in clinics and are offered tablets that cannot help them. In most cases, they may need injectables.” he said.
Nabwire Polyne, the head of programs and communication at Family Medical Point, noted that menstrual hygiene is still a challenge. At times, we think that because sanitary pads are all over the market, but this is a hard to-reach area and many girls can’t afford them.
“We learned that they fold and use clothes, so we taught them how to make reusable pads so that they could go through their menstruation with dignity. Some of the girls don’t know how reusable sanitary pads and caps work or even exist.”
She noted that girls face different challenges, like sexual gender-based violence. As a fishing community, they get sexual advances from fishermen, and at times they do not know how to handle them.
“We don’t leave men out, but they do not have time to engage in these conversations. They feel like they do not need to hear it, which is a stigma that we want to break in the first place. There is a lot of stigma attached to menstruation whenever you mention it; they feel like that’s a woman’s problem; they are even embarrassed to talk about it,” she said.
She noted that girls are embarrassed to even go to male teachers over that matter. So, we involve them and include them.
“We had a session where we had a film show, indicating the dangers of engaging in sexual behaviour when they are still in school. For example, they are at risk of getting teenage pregnancies dropping out of school and getting STDs, which are rarely talked about. I could see the shock on their faces when they watched these movies. We want to encourage them to abstain from sex and stay in school,” she said.
