HYDERABAD: About 33.2 per cent of teenagers and youngsters (15 to 24-years) surveyed in Telangana use cloth for menstrual protection while 60.1 per cent use sanitary napkins. Overall 76 per cent of females in the age group from the State use hygienic methods of menstrual protection, according to the National Family Health Survey-4. This is higher than the national average of 57.6 per-cent.
The use of cloth is widely prevalent in rural areas (42.2 per-cent) compared to urban localities (22.9 per-cent).
Some of them reported using multiple menstrual products. Usage of cloth, however, can increase chances of infection, cautions gynecologist Dr Vindhya Gemeraju from CARE Hospitals. “Although, using any menstrual product for extended hours can increase chances of bacterial growth and infection.”
The report observes that choice of sanitary products changes with education. For instance, women with at least 10 years of schooling are more likely to use hygienic methods compared to women with no schooling or less than five years of schooling, it says.
Jameela Nishat, chief functionary of Shaheen Women’s Resource Centre, says they conduct awareness sessions on reproductive and menstrual health for girls between the ages 15 to 25 in old city of Hyderabad. “Most of the girls who told that they use cloth drop-out of school between the age 17 to 19. Poverty is a major reason for usage of cloth. The other reasons cited were medical shops located in far away places or that medical shop keepers made fun when they went to buy sanitary pads,” said Jameela Nishat.
Social activist Adityavalli Kollimarla, who has done an independent research on menstruation, says that girls and women should be educated on the availability of various menstrual products and methods to use them. “However, the choice of what is to be used should be left to them.” “At times, mothers of children —for whom we hold interactive sessions—ask if they too should shift from cloth to sanitary pads. We suggest them to maintain hygiene even if cloth is used, such as throwing away the cloth after using it, or wash and dry the cloth in sun, and to store it in hygienic place,” says Adityavalli.