Experts and NGO activists at a workshop on Sunday underlined the need for a national campaign to promote menstrual hygiene to enhance the quality of life of girls and women.
The speakers said loss of schooldays and workdays for girls and women could be avoided if they were provided with adequate sanitation facilities.
WaterAid in Bangladesh and its partner Association for Realisation of Basic Needs jointly organised the programme on 'advancing menstrual hygiene: working together in urban slums' in the capital to share findings of a baseline study on menstrual hygiene management situation in Dhaka slums and also to explore ideas for further improvement of the overall condition.
Research associates of the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies Nehraz Mahmud and ATM Shaifullah Mehedi conducted the study in three slums located in the city's Mirpur in April 2011 to assess their social and cultural constructs of menstrual health.
Under the study 70 per cent women interviewed regarded that menstruation was a kind of illness. It also found that women and girls aged between 11 and 30 were more informed about the fact that poor cleanliness during menstruation might cause diseases.
The study also found that only 10.86 per cent of the respondents, mostly belonging to younger group, use sanitary napkins while most others use cloth.
Nehraz Mahmud presented the study findings at the workshop moderated by WaterAid in Bangladesh country representative Mohammad Khairul Islam. URBAN coordinator Muham-med Kamal Uddin, among others, spoke at the workshop.
Nehraz Mahmud said it was a serious concern that over 73 per cent women did not eat fish during menstruation and maintained secrecy about the matter out of social taboos.
Khairul Islam said the government should take measures to launch a national campaign across the country to bring about behavioural changes among the entire reproductive age group.
Experts and NGO activists at a workshop on Sunday underlined the need for a national campaign to promote menstrual hygiene to enhance the quality of life of girls and women.
The speakers said loss of schooldays and workdays for girls and women could be avoided if they were provided with adequate sanitation facilities.
WaterAid in Bangladesh and its partner Association for Realisation of Basic Needs jointly organised the programme on 'advancing menstrual hygiene: working together in urban slums' in the capital to share findings of a baseline study on menstrual hygiene management situation in Dhaka slums and also to explore ideas for further improvement of the overall condition.
Research associates of the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies Nehraz Mahmud and ATM Shaifullah Mehedi conducted the study in three slums located in the city's Mirpur in April 2011 to assess their social and cultural constructs of menstrual health.
Under the study 70 per cent women interviewed regarded that menstruation was a kind of illness. It also found that women and girls aged between 11 and 30 were more informed about the fact that poor cleanliness during menstruation might cause diseases.
The study also found that only 10.86 per cent of the respondents, mostly belonging to younger group, use sanitary napkins while most others use cloth.
Nehraz Mahmud presented the study findings at the workshop moderated by WaterAid in Bangladesh country representative Mohammad Khairul Islam. URBAN coordinator Muham-med Kamal Uddin, among others, spoke at the workshop.
Nehraz Mahmud said it was a serious concern that over 73 per cent women did not eat fish during menstruation and maintained secrecy about the matter out of social taboos.
Khairul Islam said the government should take measures to launch a national campaign across the country to bring about behavioural changes among the entire reproductive age group.
Source : New Age
