Industry Odisha Bureau, Jun 13: While the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) has already released its ‘National Family Health Survey (NFHS)-6’ as posted by the Press Information Bureau (PIB) on May 29 this year, delving deep into the detailed report reportedly indicates a modest increase in the use of period products like sanitary napkins, menstrual cups, tampons, etc, for menstrual hygiene among the Indian women aged 15-24.
As per media reports, “The NFHS-6 report indicates that the use of period products in India has seen a modest increase from 77.3% to 79.2% among women aged 15-24. This rise is attributed to various government initiatives aimed at improving menstrual health, but the progress is uneven, with some states showing significant gains while others decline.”
It has further been reportedly highlighted that, “The poorer states in India are catching up quickly, while rural areas continue to face challenges in accessing the period products.”
Reportedly, the NFHS-6 data indicates: “The improvement among the poorest-ranked states in period products use are Tripura (a rise of 14.2%), Sikkim (a rise of 12.8%), Nagaland (a rise of 9.4%), Andhra Pradesh (a rise of 9.2%), Jammu and Kashmir (a rise of 9.1%), Mizoram (a rise of 9.0%), Assam (a rise of 8.8%) and Odisha (a rise of 7.2%).”
It has also been reported that, “Despite being the most populous state in the country, Uttar Pradesh fell about 3.4 points and declined on every margin: urban, rural, and total, while Gujarat being one of India’s richer states, sits near the bottom because its rural half have been left behind.”
Need to be mentioned here that, “The Government of India has been treating menstrual health and hygiene as a policy priority through its massive awareness drive under the National Health Mission (NHM) by providing free-pads and having launched the School WASH programme.”
Notably, “WASH stands for Water, Sanitation and Hygiene that focuses on providing communities with access to safe drinking water, adequate sanitation, and proper hygiene practices in accordance with the World Health Organisation (WHO)’s mandate.”
